Nomad
by MaySoFarAway
Summary: Being the story of how another former citizen of The Boeshane Peninsula dealt with her lot. Covers 20 years of a personal timeline, in snapshots. Torchwood crossover. Cameos by Jack, Rose, The 10th Doctor, Ianto, Gwen, Martha, Jenny & River Song.
1. Chapter 1

Oh here we go, another first literary venture into a beloved fandom. Um, okay! I hate original character fic, as a rule. It's just safer that way in my book. However! Upon finally jumping all in to Doctor Who/Torchwood, I felt the same sort of excitement I did upon discovering Star Wars or LOTR from a writing perspective, in that a whole new MASSIVE world was being presented to me, and oh how my mind went crazy with the many ways I could go playing in it. So, just to ease the fears of the wary, this is not a vehicle for a self-insertation (ooo dirty!) or any such drivel, in fact if I were anything like Fayden I would probably scare myself and/or tell myself to go out and have fun already. Nope, I just wanted to explore the universe, and the sad story of The Boeshane Peninsula stuck in my head.

I was a little lost as far as where to put this...it has far more personal ties to Captain Jack, but a storyline/setting that is so very Doctor Who, which is why I settled on that sorting. This is for my friends, who are so supportive and who enjoy the random character profiles I write when I get writer's block, and wanted to hear more about one character in particular. Here she is :) And she's not Mad Max all the way through either, it all depends on which planet she's stuck on at any given time.

Enough apologetic babbling, storytime.

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Nomad

by May

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"I know dark clouds will gather 'round me,  
I know my way is hard and steep.  
But beauteous fields arise before me,  
Where God's redeemed, their vigils keep."

Johnny Cash

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The caravan didn't see them coming, until it was too late to do anything more productive than send out a distress signal into the desert wastes. The bandits had the line of hovering transports surrounded in a matter of moments, having come out from behind the distant dunes behind them, their boards skimming silently over the wind-blown sand.

"Are you lot really so cruel?" The man standing by the helm of the lead transport sighed, pushing up his tinted goggles and squinting in the relentless, blinding sunlight. "Robbing a caravan of poor folk like yourself, off to sell a year's worth of stores at the markets?"

"Almost convincing." A female voice replied below him. The bandit at the head of the party, who had her (rather old-fashioned but still very capable of making things that were alive suddenly not-alive) gun trained on the caravan leader, pushed back her goggles and hood as well, displaying the fact that, while she was a thief, she wasn't without manners. "I do believe that you're poor." She allowed, pointing her gun at the line of sand-scoured metal transports hovering in place, "But you're working for the Baron of Haerfyn, we saw you leave his estate yesterday." She smirked. "He filled your boxes with whatever he's been stealing over the years, you lot won't get a single credit of the profit it takes in, just a few coins for your time, if that."

"Wonderful," The caravan leader grumbled, "A perceptive bandit." The bandit grinned.

"Give us a hand going through it, and you can take you fair share back to your families?" She offered. The man hesitated, and the 12 bandits surrounding his caravan let their guns drop just a bit.

"And make myself a fugitive while I'm at it?" He asked, to which the female bandit shrugged.

"Who isn't a fugitive on this rock nowadays?" She countered, "You'd have enough gold lining your pockets anyway, could get your family off of this planet, move somewhere with a body of water perhaps."

"Well, when you put it that way," The man stepped off the helm, punching in a cancel to his distress call. "Harry Blue, 'mam."

"How quickly we who are starving do turn!" The female bandit signaled her men off, but there was no need really. The drivers of the other four transports looked like they'd have taken any excuse to pillage the troves they were supposed to be guarding. "I'm Fayden."

"Ah, Trovestine?" Harry Blue guessed brightly, dusting sand from his grey beard, hopping down onto the sand, and leading Fayden toward the back of his transport. She stepped off of her board to follow him, leaving it hovering, its sail flapping in the wind. "I recognized the accent."

"Do suppose most of the colonists on Trovest were originally Earth-American too, but no," Fayden shook her head, her long white-blonde dreadlocks shaking with her. "One system over." Her mouth was set in a hard line as she said this, her legs taking long strides as they walked, "Robeck. The Boeshane Peninsula."

"Jesus," Harry Blue cursed, shaking his head, "Sorry, mate."

"S'all good," The bandit shrugged, reaching for the doors of the transport, not surprised at finding them locked.

"Sorry 'bout that too, deadlocked." Harry slapped the doors ruefully, "But I figure the clever bandit knows how to open 'em?"

"Of course I do, Harry Blue!" Fayden said brightly, reaching out to punch a code into the keypad on the metal doorframe. "It's locked with a private home code which belongs to the good Baron himself. Ah!" The doors slid open, revealing an interior piled high with gold, gadgets, and general alien splendor. "Take your fill, Harry Blue…"

The men who'd been hired to guard the caravan were indeed a poor lot, eager to make a little money carting a rich man's spoils off to the intergalactic market. They really didn't mind turning on that greedy man though, their planet was run by his lot, and it was only a matter of time before most poor folk turned to piracy. It was easier to feed your family as an outlaw than it was while waiting for scraps, even if the tradeoff was a possible stint in jail. Thus, the social structure on the planet Ananda (and most surrounding planets) was such that most pirates and desert bandits weren't a bad sort to have on your side, while the lawmakers and businessmen were widely distained and generally hated.

Even so, Harry Blue had never seen a band of nomads who worked quite the way that Fayden's lot did. They portioned out everything equally, including their new members and bartering back and forth, that was nothing strange. What was odd though was that, even though they all looked to Fayden as their leader, she took almost nothing from the spoils. Most bands would give such a smart, calculating leader the bulk of their loot, even if she was so young, that was the traditional structure. But no, she simply watched, arms folded, feet planted far apart, as her party sorted through the transports and carried off what they wished.

Afterwards, she'd sort through each person's loot with a scanner that fit in her palm. Usually she found nothing, but a few times the scanner would start buzzing, and Fayden would take whatever it had found. No one ever contested her claim to the object she'd found in their pile, in fact, they seemed pleased for her. And that was how the raid ended. Each member of the band of pirates had a sizable sack of goods to haul back to their tents beyond the dunes, while their leader took only a handful. Harry Blue said nothing at the time, he was too busy trying to figure out which would fetch a better price at the market…a used DNA scanner or a gold-plated personal communicator. But he did notice.

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That night the clan of nomads returned to their tents, pitched by a network of caves that ran through a stone canyon in the desert. Surrounded by dunes and mostly invisible if one were to scan the sandy horizon above, the canyon was a perfect place to hide, though Fayden made it clear that they'd move camp further down the gorge come morning. Once those transports were found abandoned, empty and cannibalized for parts, any bandits in the area would be targeted.

But for that evening, the clan celebrated. Fires were lit and music was playing, children were playing or zipping around on boards, honey wine was being passed around as the new members were welcomed. Fayden was not to be found during any of it. She said goodnight to her clan, and retired to her tent to look over her own meager spoils.

The suns of Ananda were harsh, everyone wore protective, sun-bleached outerwear. Now though, with the night dark and cool around her, Fayden removed her cloaks and boots and set them by the door of the tent. She sat cross-legged on the oriental rug spread over the floor, no longer a shapeless, covered thing but looking like the young girl she was. Her long blonde dreadlocks fell to her waist, tied back from her face with a silk band. Most of her clothes were the expected, practical, sand-colored wears, from her linen pants, cotton skirt to her hand-knit shirt, but the brown cinch and gold-threaded kilt were a surprise. It was the sort of craftsmanship that had once come out of Boeshane.

She sat still for a time, listening to the jumble of noises that wafted in from outside. Sounds of happiness. Fayden might not have been joining in physically, as most probably thought the twenty-year-old should be doing, but she was glad enough for them. She'd seen some of the confused looks from the new acquisitions when they saw her, saw how young she was, how she hardly took anything for herself. That wasn't how bandit clans worked, the leader always took the biggest cut and was always the first one to escape that dust bowl of a planet.

In Fayden's clan, things worked differently. Her followers were always the first ones to get their families away and starting a new life, on a better rock. In fact, in about three months time, odds were that her clan would be made up of a whole new set of faces, following her lead. She used her brain and an academy knowledge of technology to get them rich and away from Ananda. They loved her for that, they respected her for that, but what they didn't realize was that Fayden Amorisha hadn't left Ananda yet because she was brimming with an inhuman amount of altruism. She just wasn't done yet.

A few more moments passed, before she opened her eyes and looked down at the meager pile of goods in front of her. She smiled, reaching over to where her cloak lay and pulling her scanner out of a pocket. Carefully she picked through each item, scanning it over to make sure it really was from where she thought it was. The DNA scanner was set to pick up a very distinct mix…a certain kind of sand, a certain level of folic acid in wooden items, certain remnants from certain immunizations that any biological matter would have, etc. All of these things together would mean that an item had originally come from one place. Her place, her home, her Boeshane Peninsula.

They weren't the most expensive items in the haul, usually, unless it was something that was obviously of Boe craftsmanship such as the fabric of her kilt, or driftwood jewelry, the sorts of things she'd grown up watching her mother and her neighbors make and sell to merchants. Those would catch anyone a good price at a space market, the rarity had gone up after all. But it wasn't the monetary value that concerned Fayden. Which was why, in amongst a few priceless sea glass necklaces at her feet, there was also an old plastic doll, a splintery cricket bat, and a glass jar full of sand.

She opened up the trunk which sat opposite her, and tucked these items all away inside, pausing as she lifted one of the necklaces. The wire had broken, and the beads would soon fall off. Carefully, the pirate opened the jar of sand and let the beads fall inside. Grinning to herself, she saved one of the bigger beads, holding it up to the light of her lantern. The sea glass shone blue-green in the light, reminding her of oceans and waves and the bright blue eyes of her mother. Fayden pulled one of her dreadlocks forward and strung the bead onto it, twisting and nipping the hair around it so it would stay. Glancing in a stained mirror propped up on the trunk, she inspected the effect. In amongst all the other odds and bobs hanging in her hair (magpie's nest, one of her fellow pirates had called it), she thought it looked nice.

Shutting the trunk, Fayden sighed, removing her cinch and skirts and then lying down on her cot. She was finding less and less as the weeks went by, and she'd robbed nearly every baron on this hemisphere over the last year and a half. She'd have to start moving to the other side of the world soon…but there wasn't much there, on the dark side, only a handful of settlements run by the rich. Even so, she would check each one, and she would rob them blind. Ananda housed a good chunk of the greedy people who'd picked the bones of Boeshane after the tragedy, instead of using their money to help the survivors. Fayden figured she was just doing what the law didn't, this side of the universe.

And after she was done on Ananda…she didn't know what. Fayden decided she would deal with that hurdle when it came. Maybe start putting away a little coin for herself, but that was all the planning she felt like doing. She had her objective…and that was taking back home. With that thought in her head, she turned off her lantern, pulled her wool blanket up over her shoulders, and willed herself to sleep.

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_Every night they were the same dreams, the same faces, the same places. The blinding suns, the dazzling seas, the unified housing that outsiders always thought looked so cold. To Fayden, they just looked like home. She dreamed of being small, sitting on the dunes and burying her feet in the sand. She dreamed of falling asleep to the sound of the wind grinding sand and salt water against the stone walls outside._

_She dreamed of watching her mother sit at the loom, threading fibers of gold and silk and cotton. She dreamed of watching the big boys play cricket games on the beach, of birds, of salty water._

_She dreamed of the days when people started dying. She dreamed of the days after, when no one came to help. She dreamed of the day she watched him leave, seventeen and solemn, while she sat on the driftwood waving, twelve and all ankles and elbows. She thought of how he never came back. None of them came back. One by one they died or moved away, and none of them ever came back. It was as if they wanted to forget, to pretend that pointless little colony was nothing but a bad memory, a bad place, a heartbreak place…_

_She is 16 and her mother has died and there's no one left in the settlement and they always talked about how proud they were of one of their boys making something of himself but he never came back no one ever comes back and her mother's gone and who will take care of me now and everyone's dead and gone…._

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Fayden sat up with a thudding heart, shaking limbs. Shades and sensations faded into the darker corners of her mind.

She hated those dreams. But she supposed it was tradeoff, all those things that looked and smelled like home and brought her such joy to see had to have a side effect of some sort. Looking at the hazy blue light that seeped in around the edges of her tent, Fayden noted that it was almost dawn. A good time to be awake.

Without giving her dreams and memories another moment of thought, Fayden took a deep breath and calmed herself, her face becoming hard and expressionless, and too old for her youthful features. There were things to do, and a whole camp of people to move. It was time to start the day.

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**Author's Notes:** Reviews are nice, be kind to me! Next chapter: Thievery, Murder, The Hazards Of Poulated Planets (Even If They Do Smell Better) and Why We Do Not Try To Pick The Pockets Of Rose Tyler.

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	2. Chapter 2

And more and more...finally getting closer to the more exciting bits, where Fayden thaws out a bit.

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- Three Years Later -

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'Screw men.' Fayden grumbled into her palm as she scrubbed her face with her fingernails, in a seemingly hopeless attempt at making herself look cleaner than she really was. It was hard to feel clean after spending two nights in a row sleeping in the street on top of a trunk. Especially if, during one of those nights, it started raining and she'd had to stay awake, keeping the rain from soaking through her trunk by covering it with her own body. That was the first time she'd started to wonder, if maybe her quest to reclaim her old home had morphed into full-on obsession.

The prevailing thought on her mind at the moment though was that she was terribly hungry. It had been three days now since Aldon Blue had left the planet Mareshka, leaving his girlfriend with the rent unpaid. He'd also robbed her blind, aside from the clothes she was wearing, a busted old gun, and her deadlocked trunk. He'd even nicked a few gold coins she'd had hanging from her dreads while she slept. With no credits, no home, and nothing she was willing to sell, Fayden feared she may have, in fact, gotten herself into a jam.

Not that it was completely her fault, she mused, rising from the city street and glancing about. For all anyone could see, Harry Blue's oldest son Aldon had seemed a perfectly respectable fellow, considering. This just helped prove her theory, that even nice people moved on when they couldn't use you anymore. That was fine with her, she did the same thing, didn't she? Leaving behind Ananda and the friends she'd had there, when she'd robbed everyone on her list? Besides, Aldon had snored like a beast.

Tucking her trunk behind some waste bins, Fayden set out for the more populated market streets. She'd find a food stall, steal some breakfast, and then see about formulating a more long-term plan. Stepping out into the morning crowd she had to marvel, as she had every day since coming to this temperate planet, at how much better everyone smelled on such populated worlds. Sure there was a lot more pollution, but people actually bathed on a daily basis! Water wasn't exactly readily available on desert worlds, and not many people there could afford sonic cleaners. It was nice not to be surrounded by the constant perfume of BO, but then, it did make Fayden stand out, even in the diverse market crowd. She looked like the homeless bum she was.

"Well, can't help that," Fayden mumbled to herself, refusing to let her dignity take any hits. Not even here, at the end of her rope. She walked with her head up, her eyes sharp, and her empty stomach screaming.

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"You were brilliant!"

'Of course I was! No help from you, mind." Rose Tyler, dressed vaguely like a native in a red-and-gold sari-type thing, was practically skipping through the galactic market. Walking just slightly behind her, The Doctor was, for once, without a come-back.

"Well, now, I did do the….with the thing…and then the…yes, well." He cleared his throat, "Really didn't do much of anything, did I?"

"I'm sure you would have done plenty," Rose grinned back at him, "If you hadn't been locked in the cellar."

"Still, you're gloating…" The Doctor paused, side-stepping a rather large alien with vastly protruding blue shoulder-horns, "…over what essentially equates to fetching a kitten out of a tree."

Rose's eyebrows raised in disbelief, with a touch of amusement also crossing her face, "Kitten, tree, riiight," She nodded slowly, "If the kitten were a small child and the tree were a room full of cannibalistic cult members. Yup, sounds right." She paused by a stall that was selling various gadgetry, none of which looked any kind of familiar.

"Oh fine, you win," The Doctor sighed dramatically, nudging her with his shoulder. Rose smiled up at him, "Defender of the innocent and almost-eaten."

"That's me," Rose murmured, pulling a credit stick from a hidden pocket of her robe and inspecting it ruefully, "Still not sure what I'll do with the rest of my reward, though." She'd already spent a miniscule portion of it on a gift for her mother, after all, what else was there?

"I'd say you've got enough to buy yourself a house and a small shuttle with that," The Doctor informed her with a grin, and Rose just laughed.

"Yeah, I guess," She nodded, putting the credit stick away, "But it would only work here, now, 51st century, yeah?" He nodded, and Rose shrugged, "Why would I want any of that? The TARDIS has everything I'll ever need in it, in any century." She smiled brightly up at him, and The Doctor was without a voice for a moment or two.

"Still," That came out an octave higher than normal. He cleared his throat, and then turned to another nearby stall, "Would be a shame to let the Widow Florg's gratitude go to waste, eh? Buy yourself something pretty…maybe a few more presents…" He tagged on innocently, glancing back at the stall full of fun, weird, extremely intriguing gadgetry. Rose just laughed, and started looking through some jewelry. Not that she'd ever been much of a jewelry person, at least not the expensive kind, but the stuff on some planets was just so different. She found a ring with a stone that glowed blue when she put it on, and immediately thought of her girlfriend Shareen. They hadn't spoken in a while, for obvious reasons, maybe a little gift would help patch up the strain being away had put on the friendship, Rose thought. It was expensive, but she could more than afford it now.

Something else caught her eye then, in the same stall. "Sea glass!" She exclaimed, plucking up a bracelet made out of sea glass beads. Noting the look of disbelief on her face, The Doctor chuckled,

"All this time you've been with me," He mused, "And you're still surprised that they've got oceans on other planets?"

"It's not that," Rose rolled her eyes. "It's like," She paused, licking her lips and gathering her thoughts, "It's one thing to see other places, to see things like…other oceans, other constellations, and the people there always live so differently than they do back home," She looked at the bracelet again, grinning at the way the light shone through the different colors, "But then I'll see something like this! I mean, sea glass! Mickey'n me used to comb all those dirty beaches back home when we were kids, looking for shells and sea glass. Bits of beauty in all the filth. Three thousand years later, and we're still doing it!"

"My enthusiasm for the human race is clearly catching." The Doctor fixed her with an affectionate grin, as she paid for her purchases. He looked so at ease and so pleased, you wouldn't guess that he was indeed very aware of someone watching them from across the market square.

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They were walking through the crowd again, The Doctor suggesting that they take in some of the local cuisine (this was a crossroads for over 300 worlds, there were food combinations at that market you wouldn't be able to find anywhere or any-when else), when Rose felt someone brush against her arm. She would have thought nothing of it, they were in a moving crowd after all, were it not for the fact that The Doctor abruptly stopped talking, and almost before Rose could blink he was three steps ahead of her, grabbing that someone by the arm.

"Bit old to be picking pockets?" He glared at the girl in front of them, which, Rose thought, had to take an inordinate amount of balls. The girl was about as tall as The Doctor, with a glare and a mane of knots that made her look like an Amazon. Or like she'd just left Soho. But upon second glance she also looked sickly-skinny, and was swaying on her feet.

"I don't know what…" She started, but The Doctor stopped her, pulling the bracelet Rose had just bought out of the girl's sleeve and dangling it in front of her face. The girl shut her eyes, letting out a sigh. "I'm sorry, I just…I'm starving here, okay, and…"

"What I don't get," The Doctor went on conversationally, so as not to draw attention from the crowd, while still keeping a firm grip on her arm, "Is I watched Rose here tuck away that jewelry, and know for a fact that you did as well, and that in her same pocket is a credit stick with oh, about 2 million on it. And hey, if you missed that, there's always the ring she just paid 3 hundred credits for…" The girl closed her mouth tightly, her expression becoming very guarded, "You're either a very stupid pickpocket, or very good at picking out exactly what you want." He handed the bracelet back to Rose, who noticed the hungry look that passed over the girl's face. There wasn't anything alien or malicious about it, either. Rose could read her expression perfectly.

"This…" She said slowly, holding out the shining sea glass. "This is yours?" The Doctor frowned. He was thinking more along the lines of her really being a tentacle-d entity from Sarlaac displaced and in human disguise, as they got their nutrition mainly from the glassy deposits in their ocean caves, but as per usual, Rose was coming from the human angle.

"It's…" Fayden shut her eyes, sighing. "I am sorry, it was very stupid of me, it's just," She opened her eyes, and once again that longing expression was there, "It was made on my home planet, and there's not much left, and…"

It clicked for The Doctor then, and he let her go, looking back at the bracelet. "Ahh, sea glass," He murmured, "They had craftsmen like that on Robeck, didn't they?"

"Had." Fayden affirmed, flatly.

"I'm sorry." The Doctor sighed.

Rose glanced between the two of them, not making the same connection The Doctor had, perhaps, but getting the picture clearly enough. He had that look on his face, the one that he got when something happened that was not only sad, but it was sad and hit close to home. The girl was trying to look as if the whole situation wasn't bothering her in the least, even though she looked about ready to fall over. So she was starving, but instead of going for Rose's money, she'd gone for a piece of her home.

"Right then," Rose said brightly, handing the bracelet out to the girl, "I'm Rose Tyler, this is The Doctor, and we're taking you to breakfast." The Doctor looked surprised, but then he just smiled. How very Rose. Fayden, however, paled, her eyes wide for a moment, before they narrowed, her chin lifting.

"Fayden Amorisha," She replied quietly, crossing her arms, "And I'm not looking for charity."

"Oi, who said anything about charity?" Rose scoffed dramatically, still holding out the jewelry, "I'm giving you back what's yours, and in return for breakfast you're going to tell me everything I want to know about your planet. That all work for you?"

There was a pause, during which Fayden bit her lip and weighed her options, and The Doctor just leaned back on his heels, enjoying the moment of seeing his Rose at her very best. Finally Fayden sighed, relenting as her stomach chastised her loudly. "Yeah all right," She nodded, holding out her palm. Rose dropped the bracelet in her hand, and Fayden managed a tight smile, "Thank you…"

"Don't mention it," Rose locked arms with The Doctor, looking up at him, "Now, take us somewhere with food."

"This really is your day, isn't it?"

"It really is…"

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Fayden was unaware that breakfast could taste that heavenly. It wasn't the most complex meal that she was served, eggs spiced with something blue from Alpha Centauri, and a cup of tea. But it would remain in her memory as the best meal she'd ever eaten, probably because it marked the last time in her life that she was ever starving. After that meal, everything took a good turn for her.

"Robeck was one of the first planets in this galaxy to be colonized," The Doctor was explaining to Rose, giving their new acquaintance time to eat her breakfast, "But it didn't take to being made hospitable very well, lots of odd gasses, the only places that stayed consistently safe for humans were in the Northern Hemispheres, close to the sea."

"And the Boeshane Peninsula was the only settlement that flourished," Fayden clarified, having cleaned her plate in under five minutes. Now she sat back, savoring her second cup of tea. "Even if it didn't advance much. Only poor folk went to the colony on Robeck, the rich could afford less dangerous planets. The people of Boe kept on living in the massive unified housing project the original settlers had been provided with, for generations," She smiled then, a real smile, "For a thousand years. Poor as dirt and living in what most civilized people would consider a dump, but it was paradise."

"I can see that," Rose smiled back, "Didn't exactly grow up in the Ritz myself." At that found kinship, Fayden relaxed even more, and started to actually look as young as she'd said she was, not that much older than Rose.

"The settlers came there to mine and live off the land," She went on, "But the planet didn't really yield to farming technology, at least not far from the ocean. So they became craftsmen." Another smile, "My dad was a miner, and my mum was a weaver. Merchants from all over would buy Boe fabric, jewelry, the like. And we kids would have the run of it. After school we'd run along the dunes, swim in the sea, play cricket and tag…" Her smile faded then, and she took a long drink from the mug in her hands before speaking again, "It all ended when I was about eight. Or started to end, anyway…"

"They came." The Doctor stated simply. Fayden nodded, looking down at her plate, the spark gone from her eyes.

"Who came?" Rose asked, glancing between the two of them.

"Creatures," Fayden said slowly, "Cruel things…evil things…"

"Not the Daleks…?" Rose looked at The Doctor, who shook his head.

"These creatures didn't have the resources or the intelligence of the Daleks," He replied, "It's one of the many reasons Daleks rank one spot higher than them on my personal list of the most unpleasant things in existence. Still," He took a deep breath, his eyes on Fayden, "They were nasty work. Some people say their nests still survive out there, somewhere, even if the animals are dead."

"Nests?" Rose was utterly lost now, "What were they called? What did they do?"

"They have no proper name," Fayden said, her gaze moving from her empty plate to a window that looked out on the market, "Just names from superstitions… Fell Beasts, Death Bringers, Shades. They were beasts with black leathery wings, they fed on agony and suffering, literally." Her pale blue eyes shut, "Our planet of Robeck, swathed in gasses and fumes. Unimportant. Not soon missed. They started flying over the peninsula when I was eight years old. They would come, and kill many, and carry off others, likely for later." She opened her eyes. "When someone was carried off, you never saw them again. My father was carried off."

"I'm sorry," Rose told her, earnestly. Fayden blinked, forcing a small smile.

"Life went on." She shrugged, "After a while the attacks stopped. We found out later that their mother nest had been destroyed, somewhere on the planet Rhône…"

"The fourth moon of Rhône, actually," The Doctor clarified for her, "Got a nasty sting in the process. Met a nice man in a red hat, though." The two women both looked at him for a moment, Fayden with raised brows and Rose with an impressed smirk.

"That's a story I'll hear later," She murmured.

"Too many people were gone already," Fayden went on, "And most everyone who was left had too many bad memories. So they escaped, one by one," She swallowed, "When I was 16 it was only my mother and I left, and the mother of a friend of mine…the looters came, my mother was killed, we were robbed blind. My friend's mother was sick." Fayden shrugged, "After she died, I left. I've been hunting down the remains of The Peninsula ever since."

"You know," The Doctor spoke into the silence that followed, "After something like that, most people would spend their time running away from home."

"Most people did." Fayden agreed, a bitter bite sneaking into her tone, thinking of one person in particular. "I've been running after home. I mean," She shrugged, "What else is there?"

"Well…" The Doctor was about to suggest something along the lines of a job and a house and carpets, Rose could tell. But one raised eyebrow from his traveling companion stilled that suggestion on his tongue, "There's…stuff. Plenty that's more productive than thievery, that much I know for sure." He fixed her with a stern look, "And I know you're not a thief. Bit pirate-y, maybe, especially with all that Cap'n Jack hair going on. But you're not a thief." Fayden looked down at her lap, nodding.

"Suppose you're right…"

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"…Cap'n Jack?" Rose queried, after a moment.

"The buccaneer, not our old mate the con man," The Doctor clarified.

"So where are you lot from?" Fayden changed the subject as soon as the chance presented itself, "You know this area, you've got money and you're both as pale as bed sheets, and I'm guessing with the accents…Woman Wept?"

"Been there, lovely ice gardens, but nope!" The Doctor replied brightly, "Very good with the deducting though! Nah we're from all over…"

"I'm from Earth, originally." Rose added, and Fayden's expression softened further,

"I've always wanted to see Earth," She murmured, "So far off, though…maybe someday, when I've found as much as I can…one home planet at a time, you know."

"Well I do wish you luck," Rose told her earnestly, as all three of them finished their meal, "And it's like he said, you're not a thief."

"Just a bit desperate," Fayden grinned, standing up and following the two of them out of the restaurant, "But I suppose, if anything, you've convinced me not to turn my nose up at a bit of charity." She took a deep breath, standing there in the crowded street, "Thank you for breakfast."

"More than welcome," Rose surprised the other girl by reaching out and giving her a hug. The Doctor just smiled.

"What are you going to do now?" He asked. Fayden tilted her head to the side, considering.

"Not sure," She replied, "Probably find a shelter somewhere in the city. See if I can get a job on the loading docks, they're always looking for people."

"Good a plan as any," The Doctor approved, "I do hope you find all the scattered bits of home, Fayden."

"Thanks," The girl from Boeshane smiled, turning and melting into the crowd. Rose watched after her for a few minutes, until she couldn't pick Fayden out of the market any more. Turning back to The Doctor, she realized he was staring at her, thoughtfully.

"What?" Rose asked, innocently.

"I saw that," He took her hand as they walked through the market together, toward the spot in town where they'd parked the TARDIS. "I suppose this means our shopping trip is over?"

"Now that we're both broke again?" Rose giggled, leaning against his shoulder as they walked, "Yes I suppose it does."

"Rose Tyler," He surprised her by stopping, turning and pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "You are a singular being," He murmured into her hair. She grinned.

"And don't you forget it."

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On the other side of the square, Fayden stopped walking, feeling an unfamiliar weight in the pocket of her old desert poncho. She reached in, and pulled out a shining new credit stick. Her eyes bulged, and she looked around wildly for any sign of the two strangers who'd just randomly bought her breakfast after she'd tried to rob them. But Rose and The Doctor were nowhere to be seen. Fayden looked back down at the stick in her hand, and swallowed the lump in her throat.

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She smoothed her hands over the shining chrome of the console, a huge grin splitting her face. It was all hers, bought and paid for. Bending down, Fayden looked out the window at the port outside, at the man who'd just sold her his cargo ship as he walked away, counting his credits. Her cargo ship. Paid for in full, completely legal, all the papers signed and filed away. Not too big, not too small. Not brand new, but not that old either. It was perfect.

Fayden hadn't wasted any time. After a shower and a clean set of clothes, she had gone ship-shopping. A much better investment than a house, she rationalized. It was a home that flew, and she could start making money right away. She still had plenty of start-up left over.

After a few more minutes of looking out over the galactic market, she wandered back down the corridor from the console room, into the small room that she'd claimed as her cabin. A proper bedroom, a fixed spot in the universe. Fayden hadn't had one of those in years. It wasn't much, but it had a real bed and a real bit of living space, and room for her to scatter her pieces of home without fear of loss. The trunk was now mostly empty and tucked under her bunk. Glass beads hung over her bed, a rag rug woven through with bits of gold thread lay on the floor, a jar of sand stood magnetically fixed on her metal bed table.

Pulling her poncho off, Fayden laid down on her back on her new bunk, grinning up at the metal bulkheads. It wasn't exactly the home she was trying to put back together. There were still some key pieces missing. But it was a big step closer. And it was a fresh start.

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**Author's Notes:** Aww. All right enough fluff. Next chapter! Aliens! Skelletons! Violence! Guns! Ferrets! And memories of everyone's favorite letch. I've been up too late...


	3. Chapter 3

Okay, so notsomuch guns and violence yet, that will be in the next chapter. First, I had to set up the horror. I blame the end of this chapter entirely on H.P Lovecraft.

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- Four Years Later -

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"Dayna!" Fayden called from the console room, and soon after she heard the thumping of rubber on metal that signaled her first mate running up from the engine room, "Is my hearing going, or did I just hear a cooler explode?!"

"Little bit of both?" Dayna tried, poking her head into the room, "Sorry Captain, it's an old cooler, it'll sputter a few times like that while it's getting acquainted with the ship, but it 'aint exploding or doing any damage, I promise."

"This is me, putting my utmost trust in you." Fayden grumbled, sitting back in the cockpit and crossing her arms. Dayna only laughed, sitting down in the chair opposite the older woman,

"That's why you hired me!" The black-haired, blue-skinned girl reminded her brightly, leaning back and enjoying the sea of stars swimming past their eyes, "Half-Noridian. Not very good at lying."

"Have I mentioned lately how brilliant I think your mother was?" Fayden noted back, punching a few buttons and levers on the console before relaxing in her seat as well, "Marrying a man whose species is incapable of telling non-truths? Brilliant."

"That she is," Dayna laughed, resting her boots on the panel in front of her, "You know I'm really surprised at how well this run is going. Transporting thousands of credits in spice, and not a single unfriendly blip on the screens…"

"…And just like that, she damns us all!" A voice from below sang.

"This enterprise does not condone superstition, Frank!" Fayden called back to her other crewmate, "To prove my point, nothing could possibly go wrong, could things get any worse, and I'll have what she's having!"

"We're all going to die," Frank Green joined them at the console for a moment, also enjoying the view of the stars. He ran a burly hand through his graying brown hair, sighing dramatically, "I'll message my husband and let him know that he's never going to see me again."

"Such melodrama," Dayna laughed, "Nothing's going wrong this trip." She maintained firmly, "It can't, fate won't let it. Today's Captain's birthday."

"Had to blab," Fayden grumbled, but couldn't hide her smile. Frank reached out and gave her a hug.

"How old now?"

"Twenty-seven years young." Fayden replied, adjusting another lever on the console, "And don't you two dare surprise me with anything involving cake." She grinned, "However, if you'd like to buy me a round of drinks, I'd be fully supportive." The screen under Dayna's feet started beeping then, and the girl sat up.

"Coming up on Woman Wept," She called out, and Fayden started punching in codes as Frank ran back down to the engine room.

"Sending in the transport codes," Fayden replied, "Aaaand The Nephilim is cleared for landing in the city of Where." As she spoke, the coolers down below gave another explosive-sounding lurch, "That had better end soon."

"Does our customer speak Basic?" Dayna asked, pointedly ignoring the jab at her cooler-repairing skills. Fayden nodded. "Good, my communicator is rubbish with Wherish."

"It's all the teeth-chattering," Fayden explained, "Makes it hard to hear what they're saying…"

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Despite the warnings of her male crew member, Fayden delivered her cargo on time and without a hitch, completing yet another transaction. After a few rough starts in the beginning, she'd built herself a very successful, if small, private shipping business. She liked keeping things small, people trusted small personable shippers with more expensive cargo anyway, you never knew who was handling your goods with the big corporations. Plus it allowed Fayden her freedom to pursue what was still her biggest hobby.

"Right then, pay day," She told her crew as they stood on the loading docks in the massive city of Where, bundled up against the harsh cold of winter on Woman Wept. Frank and Dayna handed her their credit cards, and Fayden stuck them both into the credit stick in her hand, punching in a code. She waited a few seconds, and then handed them back. "Don't spend it all in one place now!"

"I'm off to send a wave to Rami and the kids," Frank informed them, pulling his hood up over his head. "Little expensive but Jamie has a birthday coming up,"

"All right, meet us at the pub in three hours?" Dayna asked, and Frank nodded,

"Wouldn't skip the Boss Lady's birthday!" He assured her, hopping off into the wintery afternoon. Fayden rolled her eyes, but couldn't help smiling. She'd never get over it, how nice it was to have friends, even if she was technically their employer. Four years sharing a living space did that.

"Coming antiquing with me, then?" She asked Dayna, as the two of them wandered in the opposite direction, toward the busy shopping district. Fayden buried her hands in the fur-lined pockets of her coat, dipping her head against the wind. Snow stuck and clung to her dreads without melting.

"Of course!" Dayna said brightly, very much at home in the cold weather. Her father's people were from an arctic world, thus she ran a bit colder than most, "You always find the best used crap on this planet…"

"Well before we dive into the crap," Fayden laughed, "I'm meeting a seller I've been in touch with. Her husband was a merchant who used to stock up on my home planet," She divulged, her breath a halo around her head in the frigid air, "They're retired now, and she's willing to sell me all of the Boe fabric they've got in storage." Fayden smiled, "There's a good chance that some of it was woven by my mother."

"Brilliant!" Dayna skipped, "Happy Birthday to you! …Um," She waffled, "We'll still be crap-diving though, right?"

"Of course," Fayden assured her.

"Awesome," Dayna rubbed her hands together, "I found this coat while crap-diving."

"If I hadn't been there, I never would have guessed…"

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A few hours later the skies had darkened and the women met up with Frank at the pub they frequented whenever work brought them to Woman Wept. It was a dodgy old place, especially compared to all the loud clubs that lined the streets of Where, but it suited Fayden. She wasn't exactly one for all the noise and Earth music and grinding. Luckily, neither were her crew. Frank was a family man and Dayna was, well, just odd for her age.

"Ah here are my gorgeous dates!" Frank called to them as they entered the mellow, dark-walled bar. "I ordered your birthday special," He informed Fayden, as she took off her heavy coat. "Booze, booze and more booze with a booze chaser."

"Excellent," She sighed, sitting down. She'd long ago put away the shapeless desert ware for things that worked better in space, and at the moment was about as dressed up as she ever got in leather pants, corset and leather jacket, with a few chains and bobbles here and there and in her hair. It was nothing compared to the spangly silver thing Dayna had put on, but it was as celebratory a look as Fayden could pull off on her own. "Suppose we can toss in some food while we're at it, so we don't all die of alcohol poisoning…"

"Probably a good idea," Dayna squinted at the bar menu, trying to make sense of the scribbles, "Damn Werish. Waiter! Bring us something dead and thoroughly fried!"

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Another hour later found the crew of The Nephilim quite buzzed, popping fried prawns into their mouths and working their way through a bottle of imported Alpha Centauri vodka. Fayden was completely relaxed and in good spirits. And the night only seemed to be improving.

"I'm not telling you guys that!" Dayna giggled, a bit too loudly but nobody was sober enough to be bothered.

"Oh come'on," Fayden slurred, grinning, "The whole point of this game is covering topics we're usually too sober and professional to cover."

"E'zactly," Frank agreed, "Come'on baby, if you tell us your story, I'll tell you mine and then you won't feel sooo exposed."

"Okay fiiiine," Dayna sighed, dramatically, "I was 14, he was my boyfriend, he was 15. Gorgeous human boy from school, brown eyes, long brown hair, ugh he was beautiful…" She paused, and then snorted, "And oh goddess, rubbish in bed." All three of them burst out laughing, "Seriously! I didn't have anything to compare it to then! But now that I do, damn," Dayna snorted, "That was awful. It was like a ten second sonic compression in my parents' bedroom. A DRY sonic compression!" More laughing for a minute, then, "Okay okay okay, your turn Frank."

"University, we were both 21," He informed them, raising his glass, "Rami, in our student housing."

Silence from the two women. Then, "Seriously?!" Dayna shrieked, "With your husband?!"

"Well, we weren't married THEN," Frank grinned, "He was my first! And only."

"That's romantic, good for you, especially these days, I'm old-fashioned," Fayden approved drunkenly, but Dayna was not pleased.

"Well yeah, it's romantic and all," She consented, "But! But you just got me to share my torrid teenage escapades and yours is like, like, the fade-out scene in a romantic film strip. A PG-rated film strip."

"So sorry my love life is disappointing to you," Frank laughed, taking another long drink, "But now we all know a little something about you!"

"So not fair!" Dayna protested, as her Captain and Crewmate laughed, "You two always pick on me! Pick on the youngest. I say nay!" She looked pointedly at Fayden. "Your first time, go!"

A pause in the laughter, followed by absolute silence. And then, "…I'm the captain of this operation, and I refuse to respond."

"Oh, but now you've got us intrigued!" Frank sat up, leaning toward her across the table, "We may not let it go after the alcohol wears off, Cap'n."

"Please make me feel like less of a whore?" Dayna fluttered her eyelashes, leaning on Fayden's arm, and the woman sighed heavily, grabbing the bottle and taking a long drink.

"Fine!" She growled, "I was 16." Nothing followed. Dayna poked her arm.

"How old was heeee?" She slurred her encouragement. Fayden growled again, taking another swig.

"22, barely," Hoots and hollers followed from her crew, "Oh stop it!" She glared, "I'd just left home, he was an old friend who gave me a place to stay for a few days, his mum had just died, the end."

"Oh goddess, comfort sex," Dayna winced, "Was there crying? Did it totally kill the moment? I've had that date…"

"There was, but it didn't," Fayden sighed, swirling the liquid around in the bottle, until a small smile fought with the corners of her lips, "It ended when I caught him screwing his partner from work a few days later," Both Dayna and Frank winced, "Which I thought, okay, so he's not a one-woman…or one-man…kind of guy, I can handle that, maybe. Experimental age and all. Then said partner informed me that he also went after anything humanoid that was still breathing."

"Ugh, manwhores, sounds like Rami's brother," Frank rolled his eyes, but Dayna just grinned,

"Still, as far as first times go it couldn't have been too terrible? An older man with lots of experience, Captain Lolita?" She suggested. Fayden nodded, slowly, knowing that some stoic part of her brain would be extremely angry with her in the morning…along with the rest of her brain, for that matter. But there was currently lots of alcohol in her system, thus, she currently did not care. Another grin slowly worked its way across her face.

"Honestly?" Fayden slurred, and then dropped her voice down to a low, conspiratory whisper, "So far, it was the only time in my life that another sentient being has caused me to come." The resulting laughter filled the entire pub. "Eat that, Aldon Blue…"

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_'So this is how you spend your time then?' She felt very small._

_She had felt like something, ten minutes ago. Sixteen years old, standing in a new dress her mum had made out of her last, best fabric, her smooth blonde hair brushed to shining. Before she spoke, before she showed just how alien she felt in these clothes, in this place, she was the envy of most female humanoids who caught sight of her. But then Fayden had found him, and she had felt small._

_'My off time!' He'd said brightly, laughing, stepping closer. Fayden breathed in as he did, and felt a strange stirring deep in her flesh, something that she'd never felt around him before, handsome as he was…she frowned._

_'You've had your pheromones done?!' The young girl was incredulous, eyes wide. The young man in front of her laughed again._

_'So uptight!' He sighed, setting his drink back down on the bar, then reaching out and resting his hands on her bare shoulders, 'You came all this way, in a dress like that, with those gorgeous blue eyes, just to make fun of me?'_

_Fayden was glaring now. She looked wildly around the room…half-naked patrons all around, indolent, strangers cavorting…this was as far from home as anyone could get. Pulling herself out of his grip, she turned and stormed out of the club. He followed close behind her._

_'Fay, kid, I'm sorry, I…'_

_'Do you know how much it cost me to get a transport out here?!' She turned to face him again, shouting. 'All of our savings! This dress was the last thing my mother ever made!' His smile was gone, and his face grew pale. 'It's been two years since anyone heard from you! And after everyone was so proud…'_

_'Look, I really am sorry, I've been busy and…'_

_'I know.' Fayden said coolly, feeling her burst of courage fading, as she started to sound like the orphan kid lost in the universe again. 'Busy, important Time Agent. Face of Boe. Whatever.' She took a long shaky breath, 'Your mother died.'_

_It seemed that his breath stopped making clouds in the cold city air then, 'Two weeks ago. I was the only one left on Robeck to send you word. I believe the address I have for you is an old one, though. So I came here.' Still no response. 'She's buried next to your father beyond the dunes. I hope you will visit.' She waited another moment, but he still said nothing, only stared at her. Not knowing what else to do, Fayden just turned and started walking away…even though she didn't have anywhere to go._

_'Where…' His voice sounded so small, so hazy as he stumbled after her, 'Where are you going?'_

_'I don't know,' She said, not stopping until he caught her arm, halting her. Fayden turned back to him, saw the heartbreak in his eyes, the tears threatening to fall, and relaxed her nerves._

_'I…I can't let you just go off in the cold and,' He swallowed, 'Did she…did she have anything to tell me, or…?'_

_'…Some letters,' Fayden said softly, feeling younger and younger by the minute, 'She gave me some letters for you.' She swallowed, rubbing her arm with her free hand, realizing how cold it really was outside._

_'Ok,' He looked down the street, letting go of her arm and wiping at his eyes before waving down a cab, 'Just…let's get back to my place,' His voice was wavering, and Fayden pretended not to notice, out of politeness, 'You can tell me about…about her when she…yeah,' She followed him into the cab that was hovering on the curve, 'I'll send you home in the morning, all right? On me.'_

_'…Ok.'_

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Fayden woke up with a groan, and a familiar pounding going on behind her eyes. She attempted to peel open her eyelids, grateful that whoever had gotten her into bed had thought to turn off the overhead light. Slowly she sat up, some of her dreads falling in front of her face as she did. "Lights, dimmed," She murmured, and the lights came on above her, sending a soft glow around the room. Fayden yawned, consulting the clock on her wall with bleary eyes, pleased to see that it was only 9am. As far as hangover mornings went, this was a good one.

She got up, washed her face in her personal loo, and got dressed for the day. After putting on the leather pants and corset that had become her captain-y uniform, she paused only a moment before taking out the gold-embroidered kilt she used to wear all the time and putting it on over her pants, under her cinch. It had once been a cute little teenager's party dress, and was now a little worn and tattered around the edges. But it was her. The last thing her mother had ever made. Fayden put on a scarf and fingerless gloves too, after remembering which planet they were still parked on.

"Morning, Captain Lolita," Frank greeted her brightly, when she had sluggishly made her way to the console room.

"You're breaking the Drunk Revelations code," Fayden grumbled, falling into her chair and looking out on the white-washed city. Snow was falling from the sky, tossed and tumbled in the wind caused by transports passing overhead. "Statements made by the boss while intoxicated are not to be held against her. Unless we're all intoxicated again."

"Oh fine Boss Lady," Frank laughed, handing her a warm mug of something, "I mixed up some hangover juice."

"I was wondering how you were so perky. Thanks," Fayden took a long drink of java, which had a shot of beer in it and some asprin extract, for flavor.

"Dayna will be out for a while, but it's not my fault her people can't process coffee beans," Frank reached over to the screen in front of Fayden, pointing, "We got a message this morning from a development company, I only skimmed it. They just had a corporately owned cargo ship lose half of the farm equipment they were sending to a colony…somewhere. They're hoping we can do a better job."

"Always happy to lend a hand to colonists!" Fayden opened the message and started reading. She'd only gotten two lines in though, when she felt something moving around her ankles. Sitting up straight, Fayden sniffed the air, turned, and addressed her mechanic, "Frank, why is there a ferret at my feet?"

"Jamie wanted a pet for her birthday," Frank shrugged, "She hardly ever asks for anything, I couldn't say no."

"…There's a ferret in my cockpit, Frank," Fayden sighed, and continued reading as the small animal started nibbling her boot laces, "Let's not make this a habit…" Her voice trailed off, her eyes glued to the screen. "No, no, no they can't seriously be…no!" She looked at Frank, eyes wide, "Where are these people based?!"

"Er, they have an office on the far end of the docks, I believe," Frank replied, confused, "Why what's…?" But his captain was already rushing from the console room, grabbing a heavy coat off of the hook next to her cabin door. A moment later, he heard the main hatch open and close. Curious, he leaned over and read the message again, this time more carefully than before, and felt himself get a little bit sick to his stomach as he reached the end. "Well," Frank blinked, sitting back in his chair, "Suppose we were overdue for some drama…"

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Fayden found the local office for the corporation that had contacted her ship without much problem. She entered with a purpose, her face stony and her eyes flashing. "I'm looking for Nina?" She asked of the woman just inside the small building, sitting behind an old, cluttered desk.

"That's me," The slightly older woman stood up, extending a hand. She was wearing a flight suit, and her dark hair was rather disheveled. Definitely not the sort of corporate atmosphere that Fayden had been expecting, "You're Captain Amorisha?"

"Er, yes," Fayden confirmed, surprised. Nina grinned.

"You came highly recommended, how can I help you?"

"I'm sorry, but I have to decline your offer," Fayden told her, an urgent edge to her voice, "And I have to know, who got the suicidal notion in their head to build a colony on Edgit?"

"I…really don't know, I only know we were commissioned by a colonization project based on Mareshka," Nina stammered, obviously surprised at this turn, "We're a supply corporation, we just produce the machinery and the technology, it's in the planet's hands where they want to send people…"

"But you agreed to this!" Fayden exclaimed, "Didn't anybody here realize how wrong this is?!" Met with the blank, perplexed look on the other woman's face, Fayden could have broken something, "Edgit is the fourth moon of Rhone!" She cried, "The greatest plague the Isop Galaxy has ever seen came from Edgit, and now they want to put people there?!"

"Captain, I admit," Nina said slowly, "I started this business having come to this galaxy ten years ago, I don't know the history of Rhone. I do know it was a wonderful commission for our little supply company, most colonization projects look to much bigger corporations."

"…Right," Fayden said slowly, thoughtfully. "Well," She told Nina, in a much calmer state now, "Do your homework on Rhone. And then think about it very hard, whether or not you want to continue with this comission." Fayden left the building without another word, walking off some steam in the cold air as she stormed back to her ship. Something was rotten in the galaxy, and she meant to find out what.

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"It'll just be a quick stop," Fayden assured her crew, as they flew through the vacuum later that afternoon, "I'll have us back on Mareshka in 12 hours, but I have to see this for myself."

"Explain to me again," A still-groggy Dayna asked, sitting cross-legged on the floor as her two elders occupied the only two seats in the console room, "Why this is such a bad thing? I mean, weren't the Death-Bringers wiped out? If they're gone, why is their moon off-limits?"

"Well for starters, it's a lifeless rock revolving around a gas giant," Frank explained, "Seriously, there's NOTHING there. No bodies of water, the atmosphere is toxic almost beyond repair…" He shook his head, looking at his Captain, who stared into the abyss grimly. "Are you certain they're talking about the same Edgit?"

"There's only one." Fayden murmured, biting her lip, "It does have a few rich mineral deposits, or so I've heard," She relented, "But that's the sort of situation where merchants send in droids, automated mining systems, why would the committee send people there?" She sounded as if she were asking her questions of the vast nothingness outside, "Plus…nobody knows where those creatures came from. They just showed up all of a sudden on a lifeless moon, as if they'd come from another world. What if they came back from wherever they'd come from?"

"But they were wiped out." Dayna reminded them. She wasn't trying to be argumentative, on the contrary, Fayden caught the edge of fear to her voice. Dayna was 19 years old, and to her, Death Bringers were the things from bedtime stories. Things that had been defeated. "Right?"

"Yes," Fayden had to smirk a little, "Apparently. By a Doctor and a nice man in a red hat."

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_It was strange, trying to sleep without the sound of the ocean, of the sand. The sheets were too new, too noisy and crisp, the filtered air smelled too artificially fresh, and the sounds of the busy city managed to reach her ears even through the thick, muffled walls, probably because they were so foreign. But then again there were other things too, things that made it less strange, though still foreign, in a different, comforting way. The sheets smelled like him. She could feel a warm, steady heartbeat against her back, a warm, steady arm around her waist. She could feel his breath against her neck._

_'I know you're awake,' he murmured into her hair, 'Took me weeks before I could get to sleep after I left…no ocean tides…'_

_'Do you ever hear them in your dreams? The wings?' She asked in a small whisper, wondering if anything louder would shatter such a pristine, perfect moment. She'd never even kissed a boy before that night…_

_There was a long pause, and Fayden wondered if he'd fallen asleep. And then, 'Yes,' He admitted, 'Every time I dream.' He pulled her closer, as close as was possible. She shut her eyes again, feeling the brush of his lips on the side of her neck, 'Maybe someday we'll find something else to dream about…'_

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Fayden hopped down from the hatch, her boots hitting the black, pebbly surface of Edgit with a muffled thud. The gravity was a bit lighter than Earth-normal, and above her the nighttime sky was thick and cloudy with toxic gasses of varying ugly shades of green. She was dressed in a protective flight suit and helmet, and behind her Frank looked the same. There was air outside, but it was full of poison. The two of them gazed out at the landscape, a vast, endless sea of black gravel, with the occasional black boulder or rocky outcropping pointing to the sky. About 100 yards ahead of them some machinery stood abandoned, at least for the moment. They were all marked with the symbol of the Mareshka Colonization Collective.

"All right?" Dayna's voice echoed in both of their coms, and Fayden responded inside her helmet,

"All right," She said quietly, "There's nothing here besides clearing machines, and it looks like they haven't done much. The ground hasn't even been leveled for a housing foundation yet. If this is anything like the usual colony building projects, it'll be at least a year before they're ready to put people here. Plenty of time for us to inform people and incite some good old fashioned protests."

"Who would want to move here anyway?" Frank asked the obvious of the cosmos, as they stood looking around at the desolate landscape. "I mean, even if you were hard on your luck, this has got to be the ugliest piece of space I've ever seen. And I've been to Pluto."

Fayden had to smirk at that, and thanked whoever was in charge of the universe for sending her a friend with a good sense of humor, "I still want to check out that structure we saw from the air before we go, shouldn't take us fifteen minutes to walk there."

"Off we go, then," Frank followed her across the vast almost-nothingness, the only sounds in their ears the crunch of their boots and the occasional comment from Dayna, or each other. There was no wind, no movement, no life. It was eerie, and the further they went without movement or life around them, the more they started talking to each other about anything, nonsense, whatever they could to just break the unnatural, alien silence.

At last Fayden saw the great, low structure ahead of them, an almost natural shelf of black stone rising out of the ground. It was huge, but very clearly, perfectly square and as they drew closer, Fayden could see that it was also perfectly smooth. One whole side was open, like the great maw of a mountain cave, only there was no mountain around it. And as far as Fayden could see, no human hands had had any part in hollowing it out. She and Frank grew ever more silent as they came close to the entrance, until the sound of their blood pumping through their veins became almost too loud to tolerate.

The ceiling was low, perhaps only ten feet high, but the blackness inside seemed to stretch on ahead forever. Frank turned on a light in the wrist of his flight suit, and they could easily see a good hundred yards ahead in the dark. At first, there was nothing. Then, after a moment, they passed the first skeleton and Fayden jumped. Catching her breath, she kept on walking, until they found another…and another…and still more. All the while that sound kept returning to her mind. The sound of leather slapping against leather. By the time they reached the pyre, which Fayden judged to be in the center of the natural room, she could almost smell them.

There were hundred of bodies, most of them nothing more than bones. All of them were still in chains, chained to the massive stone pyre. Many of the bodies still had shreds of clothing clinging to them. Fayden let out a strangled, inhuman cry when she first saw the familiar, sand-colored, quilted sort of coat that had been favored by the men of The Boeshane Peninsula. She reached out with a shaking hand, touching the remains. The beating of the wings grew louder, louder, threatening to drive her mad…there were no remains of the beasts. Only their victims.

"We're coming back, Dayna," Frank managed to say into his com, in a rasping voice, as if his lungs were being compressed. He grabbed his captain by the arm, and practically pulled her all the way out of the cave. They were halfway back to the ship before Fayden could walk on her own again.

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"They're still here," She gasped, once they reached the ship, "Tell me you felt that!"

"I did," Frank nodded, his normally jovial face grim, "I don't know how to explain it, but…I felt them."

"It's not a feeling soon forgotten," Fayden took a deep breath, carefully regaining her composure. "I'm not going to let them put people here." She said, resolutely, "I'll get whatever help I need to, I'll make a fuss at whoever I have to, whoever got the notion in their head to build a colony here needs to be stopped."

"With you all the way, Boss Lady," Frank assured her, opening the air lock, "With you all the way."

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**Author's Notes:** Hmm, a social cause and potential doom for the universe at large, I wonder who will show up to help out? Next chapter, the promised guns and violence. Also, possessed politicians and familiar invitations. To those reading, thank you! I hope you are enjoying :) Don't worry, we'll see Jack in the present tense soon.


	4. Chapter 4

These chapters get longer and longer! Still, this one felt rushed to me. But I'm proud of it, it was a lot of fun to write! The Doctor is the sort of character I could write endlessly. Thank you always for the kind words, and as always, I hope you enjoy!

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- Three Years Later -

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The Nephilim moved through space without urgency, matching the lethargic mood within. Captain Fayden Amorisha was resting on her elbows on her console, her fingers buried in her locks and an empty bottle of something rolling around at her feet. "Married, Dayna. The bastard was married."

"Ewwww," Her former first mate's voice crackled over the com, edged with disgust and sympathy, "He dated you for six months and failed to mention that little detail?"

"Don't they always?" Fayden sighed, "Anyway, not the reason I called…"

"Sure," Dayna's voice betrayed the fact that she was smirking, "Admit it, you miss having another girl to commiserate with on that ship."

"Guilty," Fayden allowed with a small smile, "Frank is pretty close though. But anyway, business," She took a deep breath, sitting up straighter, "I'll need the expense reports for the last month, but I hardly need to remind you of that. Also, the insurance information for that bloke whose merch got eaten on your ship last week."

"You know I had no idea we had an infestation, right?" Dayna whined, and Fayden nodded, as if her dear blue friend were still in the room with her.

"Ranx infestations happen all the time," Fayden assured her, "Especially in older ships like yours, you just had the bad luck of getting the customer from hell. It'll blow over."

"Thanks Boss Lady," Dayna replied, and Fayden smiled again. "I'm sending you the lists now, then I have a drop to make. I'll catch you later, Captain. And shoot the bastard if you ever see him again."

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"Will do. Later." Fayden switched off her com, and sat back in her seat, rubbing her temples to work out her hangover-induced headache. It had been a good long while since she'd last indulged in a night of drinking. But then, it had also been a long time since she'd indulged in a relationship, and having it end so messily was definitely cause for inebriation. Thus she and Frank (now her best mate) had gotten drunk the night before. And nice as that had been, Fayden was still the head of a growing shipping company, and it wasn't exactly comforting for customers to see the Captain sloshed.

The cargo experiment was still small and personable, but as was inevitable with most successful enterprises, it had grown. She now had three ships flying aside from The Nephilim, one run and piloted by Dayna. Things were going well for Fayden, but she wouldn't be one to say that her life was complete. She never stopped searching for those pieces of home, even as they got harder and harder to find. And she was still leading an uphill battle against those who wished to put that colony on Edgit. In fact at the moment, having just completed a run, she was on her way back to her home base of Mareshka to make some nice loud complaints.

"Captain," Frank's voice over the com broke Fayden from her mental meandering, "We've uh, got a bit of a situation down here in the cargo bay…" Fayden frowned, punching a button and leaning down to speak into her end of the ship-board com.

"Did we miss something while we were unloading?" She asked, perplexed.

"No, but we seem to have picked up a hitchhiker…"

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As she walked down the hall from the console room toward the wide open cargo bay of her ship, Fayden could hear the faint traces of what seemed to be a rather agitated conversation echoed up to her. "That's what I'm saying, you didn't pick me up," A voice was trying to explain to Frank, "Rather I just sort of…kind of…dropped in."

Fayden stopped short for a second, not quite believing her ears. It was a hard voice to forget, especially considering the turn her life had taken after she'd first heard it. She grinned, running the rest of the way to the cargo hold. "No WAY!" She cried, leaning over the metal rail and looking down into the mostly-empty hold. In the corner stood a large blue wooden box that certainly hadn't been there when they took off. And in front of that box, arguing with her very confused first mate, was a familiar face in a familiar brown suit to match the familiar voice. He glanced upward, toward where she stood on the metal landing, and his expression swiftly changed from exasperated to delighted.

"Fayden!" He cried, "Goodness, almost didn't recognize you. Cleanliness looks good on you!"

"Doctor!" Fayden laughed, taking the metal steps three at a time down to the smooth, well-worn metal floor. "How the hell did you get in my cargo hold?!"

"Exactly what I've been trying to explain to your charming first mate," The Doctor sighed, and a perplexed Frank simply looked lost, "I just dropped in!" He said this with an almost forced, carefree manner, and even through her surprise and confusion, Fayden noticed that he seemed a little older than he had the last time she'd seen him. And not as if seven years had passed, on the contrary, physically he looked almost exactly the same. It seemed more as if a lot had happened to him though, and recently. For the first time, she noticed how old his eyes were.

"You're not a Time Agent, are you?" Fayden asked suspiciously, eying his wrist, "I've known a few, they've got a bad habit of 'dropping in' as well."

"Ugh, no!" The Doctor looked affronted, and then added, as if to himself, "51st Century Isop Galaxy though, so much easier to explain these kinds of things, thank the rift. Nope, Fay, I'm just a bit…wandery right now." He said, vaguely, waving his hands around a bit, "Time, dimensions…"

"…Enough explanation for me, I suppose," Fayden said after a beat, reaching out and taking his hand, giving it a shake, "This is my first mate Frank, Frank, this is Doctor…" She realized, not for the first time, that she didn't know his real name.

"Just The Doctor, hullo, properly!" The Doctor supplied brightly, shaking Frank's hand as well.

"Good to meet you, properly," Frank replied, still quite obviously confused, "So, we're okay with the random bloke in a suit teleporting into our cargo bay with a big box then?"

"The Doctor is a good friend," Fayden told him, smiling, "Without him, I wouldn't have this ship."

"I noticed this, this is yours?" The Doctor looked around, approvingly, "Owner AND Captain of a cargo ship? Brilliant!"

"Oh," Realization dawned on Frank's face, and he looked at his boss, "Is this the famous bloke who bought you breakfast?!"

"Actually it was Rose who bought you the breakfast, I was just a bystander," The Doctor corrected him, and Fayden noticed a bit of sadness in his eyes as he did. She looked around,

"Goddess yes, Rose!" She exclaimed, "I never got to thank her for all she did for me, is she with you?"

"Ah, no, not as such," The Doctor said slowly, still trying to keep up that perky lilt to his voice, "We parted ways, few weeks ago actually. Met a better man, I'm afraid." Fayden's expression changed, trying to reconcile this information with the image she'd had in her brain for years, of the two of them walking hand-in-hand through the markets of Mareshka.

"I'm sorry…"

"Nah, it's all right, it's good!" He said brightly, though his eyes seemed hollow, "Deserved far better than me anyway! What she did for you? Classic, wonderfully human Rose. I'm just a bum wandering the cosmos. So how are you? How's life, how's the universe?"

Fayden tilted her head to the side, knowing there had to be more to it than that, it was as clear as day. But the fact remained, she still barely knew the pair who'd rescued her from the street. It was a story she could wait to hear. "Come on up to the console," She invited, "I'll make us some tea and we can catch up…"

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Sitting at the console, flying through space, The Doctor asked Fayden and Frank a myriad of questions about her business, utterly delighted at her success. Fayden was more than happy to tell him all about their adventures, indeed she had thought about it often in the past, of someday letting The Doctor and Rose Tyler know just how much good they'd done for her, and in turn everyone she'd ever employed. Still, she had a lot of questions of her own waiting in the wings. They'd spent the first time they'd met talking all about her as well, this time Fayden wanted to know about him, the mysterious man and his mysterious companion who'd given her a leg up. She got her chance when Frank took his leave, going down to check on the engines while they were still an hour out of Mareshka.

"So," Fayden took a deep breath, sitting back in her chair, arms crossed. Across from her, occupying the second chair, The Doctor looked at her with his most innocent-looking expression. "You haven't aged a day. I mean, I know people are living a while these days, but I definitely don't look twenty-two anymore, while you even have the same suit on that you did the last time I saw you."

"I told you," The Doctor said lightly, "Time, dimensions, only been two years of my life since I saw you last…"

"Yeah yeah," Fayden rolled her eyes, grinning. "But I've never heard of someone using a vortex manipulator in a big wooden box. And don't think I missed that Rose didn't know what Death Bringers were, when they were all over the news fifteen years ago, in every galaxy I'd heard of. Especially around Earth. Which meant she'd either lived under a rock, or was out of her time, and I know for a fact the Time Agency had laws about taking people out of their time. So you're either a rogue Time Agent, or something else entirely."

"You are a clever one," The Doctor smiled, "I spotted it the first time we met, and it's still there. You notice things, so many human beings just don't notice things. Donna noticed things…" He trailed off, then sighed dramatically, "Oh all right, so I'm not exactly a um, conventional time traveler? It's sort of um…well, more like a species trait, really."

Fayden just looked at him, confused, trying to puzzle that bit out. Slowly though, the crease in her forehead smoothed as pieces fit together in her brain, and realization dawned on her face. Her jaw dropped. "No!" The Doctor said nothing, "You can't be!" He crossed his arms, mirroring her position, and still said nothing, "You're really a T…?"

"In the flesh," He cut in, coughing, "Nothing to go crazy over. Just a homeless bum floating in space. Albeit a brilliant homeless bum. Well," He corrected himself, "Not quite homeless. Early 21st Century Earth sort of took me in out of the cold, you might say. S'where I met Rose."

Fayden finally shut her mouth, shaking her head. Well, she'd seen many, many strange things in her relatively short lifetime, a real live honest-to-goodness Time Lord wasn't such a stretch. Still, she gave herself another moment or two to wrap her head around it before she spoke again, "So what did happen to her? To Rose?"

"Exactly what I said happened." The Doctor replied, as if this were the most ridiculous question ever asked. Fayden of course was not fooled, and her expression made this clear, "All right so I left out a few details, but essentially…" His voice lost it's jovial edge, in fact he sounded as if he were tired of putting on that show, "We were…apart for a while. And then she met a better man. Had to convince her he was better, 'course," His tone was dull, "He's a lot like me. Bit scary, really. But he's human. He can give her what I never could."

Fayden had to wonder at that, not sure what could top traveling through time. Not that it was her first choice in life, but the Rose she'd seen had seemed so happy where she was. However, as old childhood stories returned to her, Fayden remembered another supposed myth about the Time Lords, the Mythic beings. "Oh," She murmured, "Rose is human. So…human lifespan. I heard that your people did live an awfully long time…"

"Lucky us," The Doctor murmured. "So yes, I'm on my own for the moment, just floating about. I'm glad I bumped into this century though, love the 51st century. I once made way for a banana grove in the 51st century." It wasn't said in his put-on upbeat tone, but a far more genuine, quiet contentment. "What's ahead for you, Captain A-mor-isssha?" He smiled.

"Actually, speaking of those pesky Death Bringers," Fayden got a little more animated again, "We're heading back to our home base on Mareshka, but I won't be getting much rest. I've spent the last three years trying to convince the planet counsel and the Colonization Collective not to build a colony on Edgit and I've secured a meeting this afternoon with one of the top planning board members."

"Wait…what?!" The Doctor practically shouted, "What IDIOT thought that was a good idea?!"

"Exactly what I've spent the last three years trying to find out." Fayden replied, glad to see him so riled up, "I've got to ask you Doctor, you implied that you were there when the creatures were defeated. How…?"

"A very focused sonic wave," The Doctor responded, all alert and all business now, sitting up straight, "We figured out, my traveling companion at the time and I, that they were connected by a telepathic field made by the Queen, one that allowed them to teleport and even share nutrition. What terrors they fed on, nourished the Queen. Whatever planet she wanted them to be on, they were. We figured that if we wiped out their home nest, and their Queen, the rest would starve and die without the telepathic connection to her. So we did, and they did," He said simply, "Not a trace of them left. But," He shook his head, "I couldn't shake it, couldn't shake the feeling that there was still something left on that moon. We scoured it before we left…never found a thing."

"I've done the same," Fayden said, shuddering, "I keep forcing myself to go back to that moon, to find some tangible thing to prove that they're still there, other than the cold chill in my gut. Nothing. All I can do to pressure people not to settle there is to point out the toxins in the air, the lack of resources."

"But it's so obviously a wasteland, even without it's history!" The Doctor exclaimed, and Fayden laughed, humorlessly.

"Exactly!" She agreed, "It's so blindingly obvious! But even so, even if I look a colony planner straight in the face and think I've convinced them to see reason, a month later the proposal to start building is put back on the table."

"Oh I'm coming with you tonight, then." The Doctor informed her resolutely, a new liveliness to his posture, "Something smells all wrong about all of it." Fayden looked at him thoughtfully, her head tilting.

"So is that what you do?" She asked, "Universal Do-Gooder?"

"Well, got all this time and no home planet, gotta do something." He smirked, "Better than being a universal…not…do-gooder? Blimey that's awful."

"Point taken though," Fayden laughed, and then paused, eying her new passenger, as he got lost in some thought or another, "A lot's happened to you too, hasn't it?" She asked, "Since we last met?"

There was a long pause. Then, "It's…been a pretty rough couple of years."

Yet another long pause. "Well," Fayden said slowly, "I know I'm not as old as you probably are, but I do know something about having a rough couple of years," The Doctor looked at her, quietly intrigued. "Eventually they end. And a couple of good ones start."

He actually smiled at that, though his eyes were still dark and still so very, very old. "Quite right."

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"Ahh!" The Doctor exclaimed, taking a deep breath once he'd set his feet on the ground of Mareshka, just outside of the ship, "The pungent aroma of a commerce planet! Lovely!"

"I suppose, if smog is your thing!" Frank said brightly, turning to the Captain, "Right, I'm off to get dinner with Rami and the kids, sure you won't join us?"

"Important meeting, fate of the galaxy, you know how it is," Fayden apologized. "We've got a week off before the next job though, we'll meet up later, yeah?"

"Definitely, let me know how it goes," Frank offered his hand to The Doctor again, who gave it a firm shake, "Doctor, wonderful to finally meet you. Look after my meal ticket."

"Will do!" The Doctor promised, and Frank took his leave. "Family man?"

"Very much so," Fayden grinned, "Five kids, ages 9 to 22. I think they're coming up on their 25th anniversary, too."

"And people say romance is dead by the 51st century," The Doctor smiled, and Fayden laughed.

"It is," She corrected him, pulling on her leather jacket against the cool of early autumn on Mareshka, "Frank and Rami just don't know any better. Frank's spent most of their relationship working on cargo ships. I bet you 50 credits the day he retires, they finally realize how inconvenient living with another person is."

"Well well, aren't we bitter and scorned."

"Nah," Fayden shook her head, punching in codes to lock up her ship, "Well, not really. Mostly just jealous. My love life was forever hexed when I was 16. But enough of about that!" She started walking toward the city proper, away from the docks with The Doctor at her side, looking just as purposeful, "I've got a counsel member to yell at."

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"What do you know about this counsel member?" The Doctor asked conversationally, as they made their way through the more pristine side of the city. Fayden walked with a swift, long stride, and while he had no trouble matching it, it still caught The Doctor unawares. He'd traveled with many strong women in the past, true, but very few he'd categorize as 'scary amazon'. Aside from maybe Martha, post-Valiant.

"She wasn't anything special a few years ago," Fayden shrugged, "Just another bench warmer on the planet counsel. After her husband died though, she suddenly threw herself into work and ended up in charge of the Colonization Collective."

"Interesting," The Doctor murmured, "Any reason she'd be particularly fond of the Rhone area?"

"None that I've been able to figure out," Fayden grumbled, as they approached the glass doors of an especially classy looking establishment, "And trust me, I have all but stalked this woman, trying to figure her out. She's a really boring open book."

"We'll see about that," Her companion mused. Entering the building, they walked through a massive, sterile lobby toward a front desk. The Doctor took in the white walls, the high ceiling, and the universal crest of the Colonization Collective set behind the front desk, and did not get a warm and fuzzy feeling.

"Colonization has gotten less hands on in recent centuries, I see." He said, very quietly. Fayden nodded.

"Everything becomes a business, if it gets popular enough," She responded, also very quietly, "Even saying 'screw the system!' and finding your own planet to populate in your own special way. Afternoon!" She called brightly, once the woman in the suit behind the desk, "I'm Captain Fayden Amorisha, I have an appointment with Councilwoman Troy."

"Yes, you're early," The woman glanced at The Doctor, "And this is?"

"Her legal council," The Doctor flashed what Fayden thought to be a badge, a bit too quickly for her to catch, but it seemed to impress the secretary, whose eyebrows lifted in surprise.

"Right then, I'll show you to her office," The secretary stood, walking away from her desk. Fayden and The Doctor followed as directed. Fayden frowned, leaning sideways to whisper at her cohort,

"Did you just flash psychic paper at the secretary?"

"I LOVE the 51st Century!"

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Councilwoman Troy's office was on one of the topmost floors of the building, with wide glass walls overlooking the city. It almost seemed out of place, really, too pristine and too modern and too monochromatic for the bustling, diverse melting pot of human and alien cultures below. It gave Fayden the creeps, as most uniform living spaces tended to do. To her it almost felt like a cage, even without her prejudice against mainstream society.

"Councilwoman Troy," Fayden said by way of greeting, extending a hand to the middle-aged woman who occupied the room. She was nondescript in almost every way, of normal height, normal looks, with normal dark hair pinned back from her face. If there was anything notable about her, it was that she was a bit too slim than was healthy. The smile she gave Fayden was very tight. Her eyes were hard to read.

"Captain Amorisha," She greeted in a warm tone, "Please, call me Caroline." Caroline Troy turned her head, taking note of The Doctor. Fayden noticed he was keeping his distance, standing far behind her. "And you've brought a lawyer, I hear?"

"John Smith, nice to meet you!" The Doctor said brightly, hands in his pockets, not moving forward.

"And you," The niceties out of the way, Caroline sighed, "I must admit Captain, I've not the fondest regards for you. My efforts to supply those who wish to leave this planet with a good home keep being met with roadblocks, everything from signed petitions to sign-toting protesters…"

"I'm, sorry," Fayden blinked a few times, shaking her head, feeling a slight twinge of guilt. She brushed it off though, concentrating, "But I have to know, honestly, why Edgit? Why? There are thousands of better, uninhabited places in this galaxy open for cost-effective colonization, why are you pushing so hard for Edgit?"

"Why are you pushing so hard back?" Caroline asked in turn, her voice soothing, "Technology advances every day, and Edgit is close!" Her smile widened, "We could have the air cleared, the soil enriched, there would be farms covering that moon providing a clean home for thousands of families…"

"Per…perhaps. The air would be receptive to filtering…" Fayden did feel rather assured, she had to admit. But she winced, not letting herself be sidetracked. Behind her, The Doctor was watching her reactions intently. Caroline seemed to have forgotten about him, her eyes fixed on Fayden, "But the Death Bringers!" Fayden forced out, "They were there, they're still there! I feel their presence every time I come near to Rhone, the same presence I felt as a small child. They. Are. There!"

"It's natural to feel this way," Caroline went on, soothingly, "You are from Robeck, The Boeshane Peninsula, I know this. You saw terrible things, it's perfectly natural to fear their return. But they will not return!" She laughed lightly, "It is childhood superstition. We can make this place a haven, once such superstitions are put aside…"

"Put aside…" Fayden murmured, blinking her eyes slowly, "Just supersti…NO!" She screamed, grasping her head in both hands, "NO! Nonono!" She collapsed on the floor, and The Doctor rushed forward, checking her pulse. Carolina took a deep breath, smelling the air, and shot away from him with a shriek.

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"Oh you, you are good!" The Doctor called out, as Caroline backed away from him as far as she could, flush against the glass windows. He continued to check Fayden, who was fighting against the suggestions in her mind, but was otherwise fine. "But you see her? She's better!"

"Doctorrrr!" Caroline hissed.

"Queen." He greeted back evenly. She growled, enraged.

"I see you are of many faces! But what sort of thing is she?!"

"Human, pure and simple!" The Doctor shrugged, watching Fayden carefully as she stopped muttering, her breathing evening out, "But you see, you picked the wrong human to use mind manipulation on. Or rather, to suggest that particular suggestion to. She lost her childhood, and you're trying to tell her that those who destroyed it are really gone." He grinned, "Like trying to convince me to adopt a pet Dalek and name him Cuddles."

"It matters not!" The Queen hissed, "I will revenge myself upon you both! I will raise my army from the blackness, and we will devour this galaxy and all of it's…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, heard the speech before the last time, remember?" The Doctor interrupted, bored. Next to him, Fayden was shakily standing to her feet, "But if you're so high and mighty, why are you shrinking away from me, eh?" He reached into his jacket, pulling out his sonic screwdriver. The thing that had taken control of Caroline Troy let out another shriek, and her body suddenly gave a great jerk, and then slumped to the floor.

Dazedly, Fayden stared at the person on the floor. The Doctor hurried to Caroline Troy's side, finding her unconscious but physically unharmed. "That was…?"

"Queen of the Death Bringers, yep," The Doctor nodded, standing once he was sure that the woman who'd been taken over by the consciousness of the beast would be fine. He reached back, running his hand through his hair and looking utterly perplexed. "You know we really need to find out what their proper name is, 'Death Bringers' is just awful. Like awful, awful science fiction that doesn't want to commit…"

"I thought," She swallowed, "I thought you said you destroyed her?"

"I did!" The Doctor assured her, "Well, I destroyed her body. But clearly not her consciousness. But what?!" He started pacing, frustrated, "I set off a sonic wave on that moon, and her consciousness survived. I threaten it with a sonic screwdriver and she jumps ship?!"

"Maybe that's what she did the last time?" Fayden suggested, leaning against Caroline's desk for support. The Doctor looked at her sharply. "Maybe if a body dies while her brain is in it, her consciousness dies too. So she jumped ship."

"…How come you get to come to conclusions faster?! You just had your head invaded!" The Doctor scoffed, but he was grinning. Fayden turned her head, giving him a mock glare.

"You're rather rude, you know that?"

"I've heard that actually," He nodded, and then went back into thinking mode. "So we've scared her out of one body in power, but she'll find another. She didn't jump into either of us, so from what I understand of body snatchers, there must be a place where her consciousness is resting…know of any particularly creepy rocks floating around in this galaxy?"

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An hour later found them in The Nephilim nearing Rhone's orbit with a vengeance. "There's nothing here, though." Fayden was maintaining, "I've combed this moon a thousand times, there's literally nothing on it except rocks, the abandoned nest, and construction equipment."

"There has to be something to maintain her here," The Doctor insisted, "Otherwise it's just a rock, with the kind of influence she has she could have picked any moon or planet in this galaxy, but she still wants this one, so it has to be here. Especially for her to have lived so long, what's it been, almost 20 years?"

"About that," Fayden nodded, "But people were still finding abandoned nests of theirs, some with people still alive in them as recently as five years ago."

"Renewable food source," He said grimly, "Her kind lived off of the specific, unbridled energy produced by the absolute suffering of sentient beings. That must be what fed her consciousness, even after all the physical creatures were dead, human beings kept on suffering, hidden away to starve or," He swallowed, "Well, chained to a rock in the middle of nowhere, will to survive and all that, what would you be forced to eat?" Fayden shuddered. She didn't want to think of it. Some of those people had been her neighbors. One of them, somewhere, had been her father.

"Still, who's to say she didn't just jump into another politician?" Fayden asked, trying to mask her dread at going to Edgit. She would go, of course, she'd never backed down in the past, but for some reason going back now felt worse than any other time. "She might be back on Mareshka right now, wrecking havoc."

"I doubt it," The Doctor shook his head, "No, if she's desperate, she could have jumped into one of us…didn't you tell me that Caroline Troy's husband died a few years ago?" Fayden nodded, "Perhaps that was the doorway to her mind…utmost suffering. She was vulnerable, and she was in a position of some power."

"Makes sense," Fayden agreed, "From my stalking her, I did find out that after his death she took an extensive leave from her city duties. Leave that included being hospitalized for a suicide attempt."

"Warm and cuddly, Death Bringers," The Doctor muttered, as Fayden brought them down onto the surface of Edgit.

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"How long has it looked like this?" The Doctor frowned as they stepped out onto the moon's surface. He was looking up through his specs at the green, noxious fumes above which made up the upper atmosphere, churning above them.

"For the past three years I've been coming here, anyway," She told him, wrinkling her nose inside of her helmet, "It's worse today though. I can smell it. I've never been able to smell it through my air filters."

"That's it then!" The Doctor cried, practically jumping up and down, turning and resting his hands on Fayden's shoulders, "Fay, when I left this place, the air was as cold and clear and colorless as any other breathable atmosphere! Have you ever examined the air here closely?!"

"Er, no," Fayden admitted, "We always figured, if it looked like ammonia and methane, smelled like ammonia and methane…"

"Not just ammonia and methane this time, Boss Lady!" He said brightly, taking a deep breath of the stinking air, "Oh she talks a big talk, but the Queen is defenseless, with a great disguise. She's masked it with methane, but taste that special tang of brain waves, Captain!"

"I'll take your word for it!" Fayden laughed, out of relief. She was feeling the burgeoning of hope. She knew where her enemy was, now. And she knew she wasn't going crazy, with all those times she could have sworn those empty, cruel eyes and black wings were surrounding her, watching her. They had been.

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The two of them hurried back onto the ship, The Doctor rushing from the airlock to the cargo hold, pulling off his helmet. "What have you got in here for chemicals?!" He asked, breathless, and Fayden mentally stumbled, trying to go through the list of stuffs Frank kept stocked, "Better question!" The Doctor corrected himself, "You're one for social causes now, eh?" Fayden laughed, and nodded, "Good! Now, think, what would be the most spectacularly effective way to burn a great big gaping hole into an ozone layer, given what you've got on board? Er, without destroying your fine ship in the process?"

Fayden, still laughing at the sheer ridiculousness and brilliance of it all, thought fast, "Well," She cleared her throat, "I could mix up a cocktail of fuel cells and engine cleaners, dump it out the back once I break atmo, lower the containment field to just above suicidal, and then put the engines on full burn?" She suggested, "I mean, not saying you can't light a match down there, but the air does contain methane. Enough juice and enough unbridled heat…"

"Excellent, should work!" The Doctor said brightly, "But not yet!" He ran to his great blue box…his TARDIS, Fayden corrected herself, she'd gotten that lesson in time travel on the way over from Mareshka…and made to duck inside, "Get everything ready and then wait, I'll link in to your com system and give you the go-ahead, should it come to that."

"Wait…what?" Fayden shook her head, "We just figured out how to BURN her, where are you going and why would I wait?" The Doctor slowed his hyperactivity, pausing at the doors of the TARDIS.

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"Fayden," He said slowly, walking back towards her across the cargo bay, "I have to talk to her first. I've got to give her a choice. She's a sentient being, and as such…"

"As such nothing!" Fayden growled, also stepping forward, staring him down, "She's their Queen! She can bring them back, bring them all back! And then what?!" She was shouting now, right in his face, but The Doctor remained calm, "Before you know it every poor person on a poor world is suffering, calling out, feeding their cruelty and not one fucking person comes to help! NOT ONE!"

"I did," The Doctor responded, calmly, and the rest of Fayden's words died on her tongue. "I've given her this choice before, Fay. You can guess how she chose last time." He reached out for her shoulders once more, giving them a squeeze through her flight suit, "I know, believe me, believe me, I know." He swallowed, "But they kill to sustain, to cause suffering, with no mercy. And you are nothing like them. Neither was I. Which is why we'll give them a choice first."

After a moment, Fayden nodded, looking down at her feet, feeling like a child. Thirty years old, and her feelings had not changed from when she was eight. She would murder the monsters from her nightmares, without a second thought. But he was right. She was better than they were. She always would be. "Right," Fayden took a deep breath, "Well let's not waste any time then…" The Doctor smiled, gently.

"Good girl." He turned back toward the TARDIS, and Fayden turned toward the engine room, then paused.

"Doctor," She called, and he turned just at the doors, inquisitive. Fayden shook her head, rubbing her forehead, "It's…actually nothing important. But," She looked at him, head tilted to the side, "You call me Fay. Nobody's called me Fay, not my whole life, except for one other person. And now you."

"Huh," The Doctor replied thoughtfully, as if just realizing this, "I suppose I do. Never really thought about it." He waffled, "Well, other than it just sounding natural?"

"Right." Fayden shook it off, laughing, "Sorry, back to work…"

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Fayden had barely started tossing chemicals together in the cargo bay, when she heard the crackle of the com over her head. She'd turned it on all over the ship, so that she could follow The Doctor's parlay with The Queen as she rushed about, getting everything ready. She heard the engines of the TARDIS as it materialized in front of the nest, which seemed the most obvious place to address The Queen's consciousness. "Hullo, me again, anyone home?" The Doctor called out, his voice a welcome comfort over the com as Fayden put on her helmet again, against the fumes of the fuel cells.

"Dooooctoooooor…" The slinking, rasping voice of The Queen replied, and Fayden shivered, "We have stood here before…"

"That we have," The Doctor responded sternly, "You're a clever ol' girl, I'll give you that. Had me fooled. Well, almost anyway."

"If you're here to offer me leniency," The Queen hissed, "I shall only laugh. Why should I do dealings with the man who failed to make good on his promise to destroy me last time?"

Meanwhile, Fayden had finished mixing the volatile components, and was now working to turn off the filters and pressure valves in the ship-board waste system. She would then pour the mixture into the pipes, ready to be dumped out the back when she took flight.

"You're trapped, Queen," The Doctor informed her, still in that firm, unwavering tone. Fayden had to commend him for that, The Queen's voice was still sending constant chills down her own spine, "There's nobody on this rock but you, me, and a woman who's just aching to watch you be punished in a great, green, smelly cloud. Nowhere to go. Release your hold on this place or I swear, you will be burned off of this rock for good."

Having finished pouring the deadly mixture into her own ship's systems, Fayden tore off her helmet and ran full speed toward the console room. She fell into her chair, breathless, listening.

"This is mine," The Queen shrieked, "I entered here, I am here, I will bring my children back from the gates of death here! I will cover this galaxy with darkness, I will feed off of it's people's agony, I will…"

"Right, right, right," The Doctor sighed heavily, dramatically, and Fayden actually laughed outloud, her nerves strung tight, "Well, can't say I didn't try. Blimey I hate reasoning with sullen clouds…" The TARDIS engines could be heard again, dematerializing below, and coming into existence again in the Nephilim's cargo hold. "Hit it!" The Doctor called, running up toward the console as the clouds outside started to boil, the air to tingle, the ship to shake, slightly. "Fay?"

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Fayden was staring out through the glass, out at the green fumes, unseeing. Her cheeks were damp, but otherwise her body was motionless, her hand frozen over the lever that would send them into auto-takeoff. 'They all leave you,' The Doctor looked wildly around the room, hearing the seductive voice of the Queen directing all of her power onto Fayden. 'Every single one. Let me in, you will feel us all, you will have all…'

"No, no, NO!" The Doctor shouted, kneeling at Fayden's side, "You're not getting inside of her! She's too strong for you to break, even now her clever mind is fighting you!"

'Everyone has their pain,' That delicious, warm hum went on, heedless in Fayden's ears, 'I take it away. I devour it. I make good of it! Let me fill you, child of Boeshane,' She whispered, 'Orphan, friendless, loveless, I can make you the vessel of a Queen…'

"Fay!" The Doctor grasped her frozen hand tightly, trying to lock on to her vacant stare with his intense glare, "It's a lie, you know it is! A weaker human would have fallen for it instantly, but you're not weak!"

"Doc…Doctor…" Fayden's lips moved, seemingly with Herculean effort, "She's…I can't…"

'Everyone should be allowed to be weak,' The inviting whisper maintained earnestly, 'You, Fayden Amorisha. Abandoned by every man who ever touched you. Left by friends, family, lovers…'

"Fay, you know better!" The Doctor insisted sharply, now grasping her shoulders and giving them a shake, "I know you've had a hard go of it, but I also know for a fact that you're not alone. Remember today? Sitting right here, with me and Frank, talking about all you've done these recent years? Remember Frank?

"Frank…Dayna…" A smile forced its way onto her lips, as more tears fell, "My best friends…"

'Mother, Father,' The voice was no longer whispering seductively. It was shouting too, desperately trying to match The Doctor's ferocity, 'The girl with braids, the man in the sand, the lover with the lying tongue, the day the sky broke apart….' Fayden let out a long groan, dipping her head forward, rocking from side to side.

"Don't let her in." The Doctor was pleading now, still clutching her shoulders as she rocked, his own eyes rather damp. "Don't let her have your pain. It's yours. Yours and yours alone." Fayden's head lolled backwards, her eyes confused. "I know it hurts, really, truly I do Fay," He said gently, "But it's YOURS. And mine is mine. My family's gone as well." He admitted, "And I just lost Rose again. And one of the best friends I'd had in a long time. But that's mine. I hold them in me. Would you really let the agony of losing your parents feed the very monster who killed them?"

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A hideous, bone-chilling scream filled the console at that moment, as the final wall protecting Fayden's mind slammed shut, and the Consciousness realized that she was truly, and completely trapped on Edgit. Fayden gasped, lurching forward, The Doctor catching her before she smashed her head on the console. She reached out, pulled the lever, and they were bursting off of the surface.

"Lowering engine containment fields," Fayden rasped, as they broke through the writhing green clouds, and the ship started shaking violently. In the chair to her left, The Doctor looked on with a wide grin, "Emptying fuel cells," She pulled another lever, releasing the waste, "And…full burn!" She shouted, and The Nephilim burst forward again, leaving a fiery wake that caught the fuel, setting it ablaze just on the edge of the atmosphere. A moment's pause…and the air of Edgit was suddenly nothing but a blazing inferno across the surface.

Fayden leaned forward, watching as the clouds of gasses that had housed the consciousness burned into nothingness, taking their host with them. Just before the fires died, one last scream echoed inside of their heads, and the ghost of an image flashed through the sky…beating wings, empty eyes, terrible, snatching claws…and was gone. The ship stopped shaking. The sky was empty but for the stars. The universe was quiet.

"Fuck," Fayden fell back in her chair, her arms and legs limp, as The Doctor turned his head, grinning.

"Fayden Amorisha," He stated, "You're a piece of work, you are."

"I do have my moments." She grinned back, before wincing, letting out a groan, "Ugh, the bitch left me with a wretched headache, though."

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On Mareshka it was a cool, clear night. Despite the lights and the pollution, one could still see bit of the sky, and the brightly glowing autumn moons. You'd never guess that the universe had just narrowly escaped yet another barrage of abuse. But perhaps that was best, Fayden mused, as she and The Doctor stepped outside of the air lock and back onto the docks. She was going to keep this one to herself. Her own private point of pride. Well, her and The Doctor's.

"You were brilliant," He told her as they stood looking up at the night sky, he in his suit and trainers, she in her leather and boots. Fayden shook her head.

"Says the last of a Mythic race," She smirked, "I was pretty spectacular thought." She turned and looked at him, smiling, "So how long will you be in town for? I'd love for you to meet Dayna, and the rest of my crew…"

"Well," The Doctor sighed, tearing his eyes away from the sky, "Actually, I've got to be on my way," He confessed, rather reluctantly. Once again, Fayden noticed that tired look in his eyes, "Noticed that the TARDIS could use a refuel, so it'll be back to Earth for a bit, say hullo to some friends, and then…" He trailed off, and shrugged, forcing a smile, "Who knows? Almost always a surprise. Never stop moving for long, me."

"Ah, I see," Fayden nodded slowly, "But you're alone now, yeah?"

"For now, yeah," The Doctor said lightly, looking around, anywhere but her face, "Works for me. Still," He amended, "Like I said, you were brilliant back there. And clever, you are fearsome clever. Could always come along for a spin or two…" He said it casually, but Fayden didn't miss the hopeful tone. For as much as he'd been an enigma the first time she'd met him, he was an open book at the moment. He didn't fancy being alone. And she hadn't forgotten what he'd said in the console, about losing Rose…and apparently his best friend as well.

She laughed at the prospect also, of her flying through time and space like some ruddy no-good Time Agent. But then again, this was different, very different, "Oh…" She sighed, "I don't think other times, other galaxies are really my domain," She answered slowly, "I mean, I have a business here and all, and people who depend on me…not to mention I'm still on that dumb, blind personal pilgrimage," She swallowed, "Trying to put home together."

"Right, of course, sorry, what was I thinking?" The Doctor said quickly, lightly, looking away from her again. Fayden grinned.

"But!" She stopped him before he could apologize more, "If you'll recall, I also have a week without jobs ahead of me." He looked up again, "And suddenly no social causes to keep me busy. And did I hear you say you were heading for Earth?" A grin slowly spread across The Doctor's face.

"Not just any old Earth," He corrected, bouncing slightly on his heels, "21st Century Earth! Gorgeous, wild, great chips, you'll love it."

"Tempting…" Fayden crossed her arms, enjoying where this was going, her adventurous, curious nature getting the best of her and letting her get excited, "But you should know, I've had some abysmal luck when it comes to traveling with straight men." Especially ones fresh from a breakup, she mentally tagged on.

"My interest in your company is purely platonic, nothing but a gentleman, upon my word," The Doctor vowed, crossing his heart in an awkward and completely incorrect manner, "Fairly certain you could break any man who got fresh in half anyway."

"You know me so well already. Right then!" Fayden agreed, offering her arm. The Doctor took it like a self-proclaimed gentleman, and Fayden moved back toward the airlock, "I'll send a message to Frank, lock this baby up, and then you, Doctor, can show me how the box works."

"Captain Amorisha, prepare to have your knot-covered mind blown…"

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**Author's Notes:** Hmm, wonder what shennanagans could possibly go down in Early 21st Century-Earth? I'm going to have fun with the next chapter! Also, I have criminal amounts of love for you all.


	5. Chapter 5

This one took a while, mostly because I am a perfectionist and there was a lot to cram in. This chapter and the one that will follow it were originally going to be one big one, but it was getting way too massive and hard to follow that way, so I split it in two. This chapter, copious amounts of Jack abuse. Next chapter, much more mellow ;) Anyway, enough babbling!

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- Roughly 3,000 Years Earlier -

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"There is a child sleeping near his twin,

The pictures go wild in a rush of wind,

The dark angel he is shuffling in,

Watching over them with his black feather wings unfurled,

The love you lost with the skin so fair

Is free with the wind in her butterscotch hair…"

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She had spent the first ten minutes simply wandering the vast interior of the TARDIS, and The Doctor had indulged her. It had been feeling more empty than it ever had before lately, he didn't mind answering her hundreds of clever questions, Fayden could tell. Finally though, they arrived at their intended destination, on top of a cozy little rift in Cardiff on early 21st Century Earth.

"These feel strange," Fayden complained, entering the massive console room. She was wearing her usual tight brown leather jacket, but she'd removed many of the buckles and chains and sundry, and was keeping her familiar corset hidden underneath. She'd kept her knee-high brown leather boots on, but instead of the matching leather pants, she was wearing a pair of blue jeans.

"You know," The Doctor mused, looking at her, "This may be the first time a traveling mate of mine has had to dress down for a trip back to Earth." Fayden frowned.

"I don't look too alien though, right?" She asked, worried. Not that she was self conscious about looking different, of course, but she'd really rather not attract too much attention in a new place. It was outside of her nature and on most planets, she'd never had to worry. The Doctor laughed,

"Not at all, you look brilliant!" He assured her, looking intently into one of the screens around the console, "The hair is a bit notable, but everyone loves a free spirit these days." Fayden tugged on her waist-length dreadlocks fondly. She'd taken a lot of the baubles out of them as well, leaving a bead here and there, "Fresh as this century is, I'm afraid it's a bit boring as far as fashions go. Everyone's trying to out-bore each other." He looked at her again, frowning, "Fay, leave the gun."

Fayden looked down at the gun she'd strapped to her hip, "What, people don't carry guns?" The Doctor sighed.

"In this year, Earth is still a class 5 planet," He reminded her. "So peaceful. Aside from the occasional war with themselves. Civilians don't just go 'round…with a gun."

"Can you promise me that nothing non-human will shoot at me here?" Fayden asked, eyebrows raised. He shut his mouth. She grinned, taking the holster off of her thigh and tucking her gun into the back of her jeans, "That's what I thought."

"Oh fine then," The Doctor sighed again, this time loudly and dramatically, "You humans and your need for firepower. You'll fit in wonderfully with the Torchwood lot, at any rate." He was still watching the screens, not making a move to leave the TARDIS. Fayden shifted, from one foot to the other, arms crossed.

"So, we're here…" She said slowly. The Doctor smirked.

"Sorry, just…making sure my associate on the ground got my message." He assured her, "But yes, we're here! I'll be catching up with some old friends, don't worry, they'll be the best sort to show you around town."

"Was a bit wary about being an extra wheel," Fayden admitted, and The Doctor shook his head.

"Not at all!" He said brightly, "I hardly ever get to show off Earth! Well, my current Earth. Even more rare that I can say I've this many friends in one place at one time. They'll eat you up. Aha!" He suddenly cried, pointing to the screen, "There she is!" Fayden hurried up to the console, looking where he pointed. The screen was a view of the outside, and standing on the concrete, arms crossed, a smirk on her face, was a very pretty black woman dressed all in grey and black leather.

"I so could have kept my leather pants on," Fayden pouted, as The Doctor pulled her toward the doors.

"She's a soldier," He sighed, "You're Xena: Warrior Princess." He was greeted with a blank stare, "Er. Character from a 20th century television show."

"Can I meet her?"

"Not today."

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"Hullo, Doctor!" He was greeted brightly as soon as he stepped outside of the TARDIS. Caught up in a tight hug, The Doctor laughed.

"Martha Jones, the legend herself!" He exclaimed, and Martha stepped back, shaking her head.

"It's Martha Milligan now." She grinned, holding up her left hand to display the gold band which now joined her diamond. "Would have sent you an invite but, well, we sort of eloped as soon as we were back together, after the whole…planet kidnapping ordeal."

"Brilliant," The Doctor said genuinely, "Nothing like the end of the world to remind you of what's important."

"Exactly," Martha looked over his shoulder, "And who's this?"

Fayden had been completely distracted, looking at her surroundings in awe. The bright blue sky, the fountain just over their heads, the fact that the air smelled so clean (to her), that the buildings were so small, that the transports were so antique. She looked back with dazzled eyes toward the pair when she realized she was being spoken of, and smiled politely.

"Martha Milligan," The Doctor introduced formally, "Meet Captain Fayden Amorisha. Fay's an old friend of myself and Rose's from the 51st Century." He said by way of introduction, as the two women shook hands. Martha was trying not to let it show, just how impressed she was by Fayden's six feet of height.

"I was homeless when I was 22," Fayden added, "They bought me breakfast and a spaceship."

"Sounds exactly like him!" Martha laughed, "I was a med student, he took me for a little trip, I ended up saving the universe and all of existence a few times."

"That's the severely abridged version of events," The Doctor coughed, "So where's Jack? Mickey? Gwenny-Gwen? The pretty boy Jack was going on about last time?"

"Oi," Martha sighed heavily, "You picked a hell of a day to drop in, Doctor. Jack definitely would have been the first one here, but he and Gwen are off at a loony bin, looking up a former resident. Mickey's on a touchy errand as well, related. I just finished up an autopsy, started to run as soon as I caught your signal."

"Nothing serious going on, is it?" The Doctor frowned, but Martha shook her head,

"Nah doesn't seem it," She assured him, "Just an idiot who's causing trouble. He just happens to be a really fast idiot who knows a lot about aliens."

"The worst kind of idiot…" The Doctor mused, and Fayden frowned.

"I thought first contact didn't happen on Earth until the year…" She was cut short by The Doctor reaching out and covering her mouth. "Oh, right, sorry…"

"You're right though, regarding 'proper' first contact." He nodded, "Your schoolbooks haven't been rewritten on that point…yet. But aliens have always been coming here in small bits," He smirked, "Usually the homeless ones. Or the ones with engine trouble."

"Or the criminals," Martha laughed, "But come on to the pub!" She started walking, waving for them to follow her, "They might be a little late, but no one's forgotten our lunch date." She assured them, as Fayden kept glancing all around, drinking in the air of her mother planet, "And then to the hub. Seeing as how you're our favorite person in the galaxy, we'll be giving you the full Torchwood experience."

"I hope it's better than my last one," The Doctor murmured.

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Martha led them to an old fashioned little pub by the water, which absolutely fascinated Fayden. She was practically gleeful, looking at the old photographs and sports equipment and trophies hanging on the walls. "Paper photographs!" She grinned, "I saw them once in a museum, but out in the open? Things change so much…" She glanced at the ancient cricket bat mounted on the wall above their heads, "Well, some things."

Martha filled them in on the details of her little wedding, which Fayden also found fascinating. They talked about her life in Cardiff, and how much she enjoyed the more maverick atmosphere of working for Jack's Torchwood as opposed to UNIT. Then Fayden had to have the two establishments explained to her, which led to even more lively conversation. All in all, Fayden was finding herself enjoying the 21st Century immensely. The Doctor was clearly pleased that she did not feel like a tag-along, either. But then, he'd always chosen his traveling companions well. Of course they would get along.

Not long after they arrived, Mickey Smith came in with Gwen Cooper close behind, and more introductions were made. Gwen was glad to finally meet The Doctor in the flesh, informing him that his other old friend would be along shortly, once the SUV was parked, and Mickey apparently knew him from a ways back.

"Nice knots!" He told Fayden as he was sitting down beside The Doctor, across from her. He shook her hand, "Where'd he pick you up, then?"

"51st Century," Fayden repeated, grinning. She had a fondness for blunt blokes, "Met him and Rose a few years back, ran into him again yesterday."

"Good ol' Rose," Mickey murmured, and everyone at that table nodded. Fayden was intrigued,

"You all know her, then?" She asked, while The Doctor made a point of looking at the front doors of the pub, as opposed to anyone at the table. Martha grinned.

"Either personally, or by reputation," She explained. At Mickey's right, Gwen nodded again.

"I've only seen her, once." She added, "But Jack talks about her like she was a saint."

"I was just some homeless girl trying to rob her," Fayden elaborated, "And she bought me breakfast, and slipped a fair bit of money into my pocket," She grinned, "Now I'm the owner of my own shipping company in the Isop Galaxy."

Martha tilted her head then, curious, "Isop?" She said, "That rings a bell." Suddenly, The Doctor wasn't looking at the front of the pub anymore. Fayden shrugged,

"It's been populated by sentient beings longer than any galaxy in the known universe," She explained, "I'm not surprised you've heard of it, even here. I'm from Robeck, grew up on The Boeshane Peninsula."

The Doctor and Martha locked eyes then, both having the same thought at the same time. "51st Century…Um, Fayden?" The Doctor asked, casually, "How well did you know your neighbors, growing up?"

Fayden looked perplexed, but was about to answer him when a chipper voice from the front of the pub interrupted her . "Sorry I'm late Doctor, chasing lunatics across Cardiff, you know how it goes!"

"Jack!" The Doctor stood up, receiving a warm hug from the man who'd just breezed in. "Good to see you. Have you gotten younger?" In her seat, Fayden was frozen stiff. Martha turned, looking at her, and then at Jack, and then back at the numb, motionless state of her expression.

"Very funny," Jack Harkness laughed, turning to survey the table, "Well, if everyone's here…" He stopped short when his eyes fell on the blonde who sat next to Martha, across from Mickey and Gwen. He almost didn't recognize her, didn't believe it. But there was that height, those cheekbones, those amazing, ice-colored eyes. The Doctor was also watching his companion, warily, as if she were a wild animal who could leap at any moment. Jack and Fayden stared at each other in silence for a long moment, until Mickey cleared his throat, loudly. Jack blinked, letting out the deep breath he'd been holding. "Fay…?"

She stood, slowly, edging around Martha, not taking her eyes off of him. "He…um," She swallowed, "He called you Jack?" Jack nodded, licking his lips. "You changed your name?" Her forehead creased in confusion, and Jack looked, to his friends' amazement, chastised.

"I did," He murmured apologetically, as she stepped closer. His eyes were damp, and a smile was fighting its way onto his face, "You're really here…"

Fayden snapped. Before she knew it, she was seeing white. A split second later, her knuckles were burning and Jack was staggering backwards from her blow to his jaw. She stomped out of the pub without another word, the doors slamming violently against the walls in her wake.

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_There were crumbled bits of paper all over the bed by the time he was through reading. She knew he hadn't meant to mangle the last written words of his beloved mother, it was just that his hands had been shaking so badly since the first one, with the occasional frantic clutching, hasty wiping of eyes, wet fingers smudging cheap ink. Now the letters were done and read, and scattered all around them. Fayden was sitting on the end of the bed, with his head in her gold-covered lap. She'd toed off her uncomfortably foreign and high gold heels sometime in the middle of the fourth letter, and was now wriggling her toes against the thick, new-ish carpet of his flat._

_"What did she look like, before…?" He trailed off softly, turning the last piece of paper in his hands. Without a conscious effort, she started running her small, slim fingers through his hair in a comforting, motherly gesture. His eyes were staring up at her, studying her jaw line. Fayden was studying the city, the transports buzzing by his windows._

_"Beautiful," She was quick to assure him, earnestly, "A bit older than you probably remember her…and she was very pale, those last days. But aside from her complexion, you'd never guess that…" Fayden swallowed, "Your mum was always beautiful."_

_"That she was," He agreed, reaching about, picking up the other letters and putting them into an awkward, crumpled stack. He set them on the floor, "Thank you for looking after her, kid…"_

_"We were the only ones left," Fayden said quickly, quietly, her young eyes still transfixed by the city, "She looked after me. I looked after her…" Her words dwindled to a whisper, as she felt his fingers ghosting across her collar bone, a whole new set of senses seeming to flip on like a switch._

_That strange feeling was back, low in her stomach, that she'd felt when she'd first come close to him. Of course she wasn't daft, she knew what it was. She'd simply never really had the chance to feel…aware of this, of this part of her. Hell she'd barely had any male sentient beings to even talk to, not since she was fourteen. And when she had…she'd been taking care of things. Working, supporting her own mother, mourning her father. No time to realize that she was just barely not a child anymore, no sense that she was indeed very appealing and that the boy…man…older brother of her long-gone playmate…would see her and think that she was lovely. In her head she was awkwardly tall and boney, rough-handed, a scarecrow in a pretty outfit…he was only 22 but he felt so, so much older than her in this moment…her eyes slid shut and her breath hitched, as he turned his head and pressed his lips against her abdomen, through her dress._

_He shifted, sitting up, and the bed moved and through a thick blanket of sensory overload Fayden almost felt it. She opened her eyes slowly and found that he was facing her, that his face was very, very close to hers, his breathing heavy and uneven. His eyes were burning - not the same careless, flippant burn she'd seen him tossing about at the club when he didn't know he was being watched, either. Naïve though she might have been, she knew without a doubt that she was seeing much, much more of him now through his eyes…burning blue eyes, still red from shedding tears over his mother, looking into her and burning his way through her._

_Fayden felt that she should say something, opening her mouth and finding nothing. But in the instant that her lips parted, his mouth was on hers, warm, insistent and almost frantic. Her frame went slack, and though she'd never done so before she found herself responding, kissing him back, reaching out and clutching fistfuls of his shirt. He pulled back, only to continue trailing kisses down her throat, making her gasp out loud. Her breath was in his ear, whispering his name in a tone that was entirely, pleasantly surprised at this new sensation. For the first time since they'd hailed a cab Fayden heard his soft chuckle, now warm against her skin._

_"You are beautiful," He murmured appreciatively, moving his lips from her neck to her collar bone, wrapping his arm around her, his fingers sliding gently along her spine above the back of her dress. She let out another surprised, breathy sound as she looked down at him, his lips just brushing the top of her moderately low neckline. His fingers had found the hook-and-eye closures that did up her little gold dress from Boeshane, playing with them, until he finally tore his lips away from their tantalizing exploration of her chest to look her in the eyes again. They regarded each other, the heavy-lidded, emotionally raw Time Agent and the wide-eyed, flushed and thoroughly turned on (for the first time) teenager._

_"I want you," He informed her in a whisper, a bit too exposed for his usual suggestive charm. His eyes were still burning, but in them she still saw the person she knew, and that person, she knew, would still leave her alone if that was what she wanted._

_Fayden swallowed, trying to think of some response. How did a person respond? She'd never wanted anyone before, not like this. And as far as she knew, no one had wanted her either. What sort of thing was right to say? And what ruined such moments? And was she taking too long to answer? That was the thought that propelled her forward, across the miniscule space between them, locking her lips to his, wrapping her trembling arms around his neck. He kissed her back hungrily, like a man desperate, and his clever fingers started unhooking the closures one at a time without trouble._

_"I've never…" She pulled back only slightly, her breath mingling with his, "I mean I want to," Her voice was shaking, "But you should know I…" He stilled her nerves with another long, slow kiss, as he finished with the row of hooks and pressed his hands against her bare back._

_"It's all right," He whispered when they pulled apart again, "I still want you. I don't…want to be alone." She knew a confession when she heard one, and her hands clutched at his shirt again, over his shoulders, "You tell me though, if you don't…" Fayden followed his example, and cut him off with a kiss, distantly proud of herself for catching on so quickly. This would be a handy talent as things progressed, and at that thought, she blushed all over again. He made a low, pleased growl somewhere deep in his throat, and started tugging her little party dress off of her shoulders._

_Fayden pulled away then, to help him be rid of the pesky thing. He grinned as she scooted backwards on the bed, not taking his eyes off of her and her nervous grin. He pulled the dress all the way down her long legs, off her ankles, and let it fall to the floor somewhere over his shoulder. Fayden was resting back on her elbows, naked but for a pair of plain white knickers, her long hair mussed and her eyes wide, fixed on him. For a moment he just stood at the end of the bed and looked at her, all flawless, untouched skin and awkwardly pretty, adolescent angles, and wondered just what level of hell this could send him too. Fearing some sort of rejection in his hesitation, Fayden swallowed, nervously reaching out a hand to him. And he was done in. She was his, utterly, for the rest of the night._

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"Suppose that was rather dramatic and adolescent of me," Fayden murmured, when she heard footsteps behind her. She had been pacing back and forth on the docks for the past few minutes, and now stood, arms crossed, looking out at the water. "Sorry, I needed some air."

"Quite all right," The Doctor assured her while casually continuing his trek, stopping at her side, hands in his pockets. Fayden didn't look away from the ocean.

"You didn't mention that you had a close friend from my home planet." She noted lightly, though The Doctor didn't miss the bite to her tone. He'd had far too many human women traveling with him in the TARDIS to be as oblivious to their subtleties as they all thought he was. He simply chose to be polite about it.

"Honestly, I never really put the two thoughts together," He confessed, "I know a priest and a rabbi who both live on 82nd Poosh, they've never met…"

"The Boeshane Peninsula was the boondocks, Doctor."

"Boondocks that existed for over a thousand years and housed over 20,000 people before the tragedy struck," The Doctor was quick to remind her. Fayden looked like she wanted to argue further…then let it drop, with a deep sigh. "I am sorry Fay, a normal person might have picked that connection up right away…Martha did…but I've got a lot rattling around in this old brain. Social networking isn't it's strong point, either…"

"It's all right," Fayden shrugged, "Was just looking for someone to blame my reaction on, I guess…" She let out a short laugh, shaking her head at herself, "Goddess, I haven't hit a man in a bar since I was 18..." The Doctor smirked.

"Can't say I haven't seen a scorned former acquaintance abuse him before," He mused, "If you don't mind my asking, what did he…?"

"Ah, well," Fayden cleared her throat, "We go back a ways…" She paused, thinking, glaring out at the sea, "Simply put, we're the two extremes when it comes to former inhabitants of Boe. I became obsessed with recreating it. And he ran as far away from it as he could, as fast as he could."

"I see," The Doctor nodded, both understanding and also rather surprised. "Makes perfect sense, though, I have to admit, knowing Jack as I do I expected the nature of your scorn to be something a bit more…" he hedged, waving one hand back and forth before settling on a word, "…base." Fayden snorted.

"Oh don't get me wrong," She assured him, "He's got my virginity in his back pocket as well."

"Oh, brilliant…" The Doctor grinned, "This, this is going to be a fun visit, this is…"

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The conversations which took place during the walk to Torchwood were surprisingly void of depth, considering. Martha and Mickey turned out to be waiting for Fayden and The Doctor just off the water front, and led the way to the hub without a single mention of the incident in the pub. Fayden was grateful, as she really didn't feel like acknowledging behavior she considered below herself nowadays. Instead Martha chattered with her animatedly about some of the cases she'd seen while working there. Mickey and The Doctor discussed something else about a pace behind, something Fayden was fairly certain had nothing to do with Torchwood and everything to do with a past involving Rose, a past on this planet she knew so little about, even though her genetic core had originated there.

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"I've been thoroughly warned," A young man said by way of greeting as they entered what appeared to be a rather dodgy tourist information office. He was standing behind a desk, eying Fayden warily, but Martha just laughed.

"Good for you. Doctor, Fayden, Ianto," She introduced without stopping, moving forward into the depths of the bunker.

"Ianto!" The Doctor greeted back brightly, as he followed them all down, "Nice to meet you in person, as opposed to over a screen."

"The same," The young man replied, "Somewhat of a legend 'round here, Doctor."

"Are you a legend everywhere you go?" Fayden had to ask, making Mickey laugh out loud. The Doctor scoffed.

"There are planets where they still sing pop songs about me…" He divulged, before they found themselves stepping into the hub itself. "Huh…" The Doctor trailed off for a moment, putting on his glasses and looking up at the rift manipulator. "Well, now, for a bunch of humans, that's not half bad I suppose."

"I'll take that as a compliment," A voice said from above. Jack was glancing down from what looked to be a hot house, sporting a rather purple spot just under his cheek bone. Fayden frowned. She thought she had hit him harder than that. And he was looking at her, steadily. "Welcome to Torchwood, Doctor."

"Like what you've done with the place," The Doctor inspected the rest of the hub, his voice light but his eyes sharp, careful. He watched Mickey wander over to Gwen's desk, where the two of them seemed to be intently studying something not of this world, and frowned. Jack tore his eyes away from Fayden, and smiled tightly, descending the stairs.

"I'll show you around, maybe then you'll be assured?" He suggested, and The Doctor shook his head.

"I will always have my issues with alien tech in the hands of 21st Century humans, Jack," The Doctor assured him right back, "But seeing as you're not exactly a 21st Century human, tell me what you're working on."

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The two men started talking, though Jack's eyes kept flicking over to Fayden, his expression unreadable. Martha was making her way toward what looked like a med station, and Fayden was happy to follow her, to get away from him. There was a body on a table, down in the sunken medical room, and it didn't take Fayden long to pick out what was odd about it. "Laser burns?"

"That's right," Martha nodded, pulling on gloves and lab coat, "He was shot with something that certainly didn't come from here, even though the shooter did," She explained. It was the same story Jack was telling The Doctor upstairs, but Martha didn't mind. "A bloke named Francis broke out of a mental health facility last week. Bipolar egomaniacal schizophrenic," Martha winced, as she set about finishing what The Doctor's arrival must have interrupted, the putting away of the body, "Sad, but nothing the regular authorities couldn't handle. Except that he's somehow gotten his hands on some alien tech, and he's gone on a shooting spree."

"If it's a spree, wouldn't it be easy for you to follow the path of destruction right to him?" Fayden asked, curious. Martha sighed,

"You'd think so," She nodded, shoving the body into a freezer, "Except that we think whatever he's got is more than just a weapon. The killings are at random, all over the area, all at random times…we think it's also got a teleporting feature."

"I repeat," The Doctor cut in brightly, leaning over the rail to grin down at them, "Issues." Martha rolled her eyes at him.

"It wasn't anything of ours," She told him, "No idea where he found it."

"Hold on!" Gwen called from her desk, drawing everyone's attention. She listened carefully to the buzz of police reports in her ear set for a moment, "It's him, another body, and very close by."

"Twice in one day?!" Martha cried, yanking her lab coat back off.

"Picking up momentum," Jack noted grimly, looking at The Doctor, "I hope you'll come with us, I know how good you are with teleports."

"I wouldn't miss it!" He replied merrily, glancing down again at his companion, "Fayden?"

"Oh why not?" She smirked back up at him, pointedly ignoring Jack as she walked back up the stairs, "You do still have to prove this whole legendary bit to me."

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The lot of them filed out of the hub in a hurry, though to her dismay, Jack caught Fayden's arm as they did so, leaving them a good ways behind everyone else.

"Look, I'm sorry," She said in a rush, keeping her gaze fixed forward, on the people ahead of them, "Was just…not expecting to see you, is all…specially not with a new name." She added that bit on with a biting tone.

"You left." He said simply, his eyes burning into her as they walked. Fayden knew that burn, even without seeing it she had to shut her eyes, steel her jaw. "I woke up and you were gone. Sixteen years old and GONE, Fayden." She turned her glare on him at his rather accusing tone. Ahead of them, Ianto was glancing over his shoulder as their voices raised, "I didn't know if you'd gotten kidnapped on the way to the shops, or worse! I spent four months looking for you, I thought you were DEAD!" They'd stopped in the tunnels now, and had failed to notice that the group ahead of them was now watching their exchange.

"So I handled things badly!" She shouted back, "You said it yourself, I was sixteen. What was I supposed to do when John told me you two were fucking regularly, stick around and be the underage roommate with benefits?!"

He opened his mouth to shout back, but ended up simply gaping like a fish a few times before closing his mouth. Fayden looked away from him quickly, not letting herself look him in the eyes again. Gwen cleared her throat loudly, bringing them both back to the present.

"We um," Gwen thumbed toward the bulkheads. Beside her, Martha was fighting fiercely against a very persistent grin, "Should hurry, bodies and lingering teleport fields and all…"

Jack and Fayden shared one last look, starting out as a glare and trailing down to something between resignation (on her part) and regret (on his), until they both looked away, and hurried to catch up with the team. Gwen hurried to fill the silence with telling them everything she'd heard over the police waves, The Doctor listened closely even as he muttered to himself about the dangers of domestics, Mickey and Martha were both entirely amused, and Ianto looked as if he very much wanted to ask quite a few questions of his employer/lover. Jack was all business in the space of a minute, and Fayden…well, she was pretending not to hate herself for letting him make her regress to a petulant teenager.

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They were afraid that things were going to go all sorts of wrong when they'd followed Francis Richmond's teleportation signal to the top of a building in the heart of Cardiff. He was waving a large, clearly alien gun about and screaming to high heaven about the end of times. Jack, Mickey and Gwen had led the advance, guns trained on him, the rest not far behind. Soon, however, they realized that Francis was much more interested in having an audience to his madness than killing any of them, at least currently. After two minutes of ranting, those who weren't holding guns even got bored enough to sit down.

"The light fell, and thus I was ordained!" Francis cried out over and over, shooting blindly into the sky a few times for effect. Leaning against the roof's edge behind the line of Torchwood employees, The Doctor was intrigued.

"Light fell, eh?" He asked, "Whereabouts?"

"Far afield, beyond the bars of my wretched prison!"

"Guessing that means near the asylum," Martha noted casually, "But if something alien fell, wouldn't we have known?" Gwen lowered her gun a few inches, thinking.

"When we talked to them today, they did mention there being a thunderstorm the night he escaped," She reminded Jack, who nodded.

"Thunderstorms," The Doctor mused, tapping his chin, "I can name more than one species who could crash land on this planet in a cloud of electricity, and you lot would be none the wiser."

"So not everything out of Loony Francis' mouth is nonsense!" Jack smiled brightly, Francis glared, and before anyone could react, his wild flailing suddenly turned deadly accurate, a laser beam hitting Jack square between the eyes. Mickey had a tranquilizer in Francis a second before Gwen did also, and the two men hit the ground one right after another.

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Fayden was vaguely aware of her heart stopping for a fraction, of everything slowing down around her. She was frozen where she stood, watching Gwen and Ianto kneel down by Jack as the rest of them hurried to Francis. She must have said his name, his real name, because they both looked up at her in startled confusion. Fayden walked forward, her vision blurring, and sank to her knees at his side. The only thought in her head for a long moment was that the last thing she'd said to this man (who, for better or worse, was the only sort of family she had left in the universe), were said in anger. Over something that had happened fourteen years before. Something that no longer mattered.

Then another thought occurred to her, as she took his head in her lap, studied his still face. No one else seemed alarmed. No one else seemed too terribly distressed. If anything, beside her Gwen and Ianto seemed only…anxious? Before Fayden had time to properly sort out that information, she heard a sharp, deep intake of breath. She gasped, looking down with a start, everything suddenly returning to normal speed around her.

His eyes were open. He was breathing. He was looking up at her. He was grinning.

"Well, I suppose this makes us even."

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**Author's Notes: **BumbumbumBUM! ...Actually, we all knew that would happen. She didn't, though. The next chapter should be very swift in coming, fear not :D Again, thank you so much for the kind reviews, here, on polyvore and on my blogs, I am le humble.


	6. Chapter 6

Well, I'm quite proud of this one, if I do say so myself. I had a lot of fun with this bit. But I had to just post it already, as I kept refining it to within an inch of its life. Oh in case I haven't said it yet, nothing here that is not mine is mine...er, that is, I do not own Doctor Who, Torchwood, or anything involved, nor do I make any money off of this. End disclaimer :) And yes, the Thea Gilmore cover may be my favorite version of this song ever.

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I can't see much of a future

Unless we find out who's to blame

What a shame

And we won't be together much longer

Unless we realize that we are the same…

~ Thea Gilmore

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Somewhere in the Torchwood hub, Gwen was reviewing the information from the asylum. Francis was sleeping off his heavy dose of tranquilizers, while Martha was making sure his vitals were stable, and that he was well-restrained. The Doctor and Mickey were animatedly studying the weapon/teleportation device/apparent hair dryer he'd had on his person, and Ianto was making coffee for all of them, trying not to cast too many worried glances in the direction of Jack's office. In said office, Jack and Fayden were apart from all of these goings on. They were too busy catching up.

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"How long have you been like this?" Fayden asked in a soft voice, sitting in the comfortable chair behind his desk. She'd taken off her jacket, for in the hub her usual clothes didn't feel so terribly conspicuous. Jack had eyed the familiar glass and gold trinkets that hung from her weather-worn leather corset with fondness. He recognized her pieces of home.

"Depends on what timeline you go by," Jack replied, leaning against the desk. He too had removed coat and jacket, and was standing in his shirt sleeves. "For me it's been a long time," His eyes found hers, "Counting some time I spent buried alive…it's been a little over two thousand years for me, since the last time I saw you, Fay."

"…Huh," Fayden swallowed, looking down at her hands, "You looked…I mean, your eyes," She sighed, frustrated with herself for not being as sharp with words as she usually was, "Almost like The Doctor, in that you haven't aged much physically but you seem older. Calmer. More than just fourteen years older, even."

"Took a while to calm me down, yes," He smirked, "Still not quite sure I have, entirely…" He trailed off.

"So, how did it happen?" She asked, "Because I'm fairly certain immortality isn't a regional or genetic trait…" Jack laughed,

"Well, that's complicated, even I don't fully understand how it works," He admitted, "But basically, I…well, I died. And then I was brought back…by Rose Tyler," He smirked, "And now I can't die."

"…And they don't have a major religion centered around this girl yet?" Fayden asked, shaking her head as he laughed again, "I believe it though, I've seen a lot of weirdness lately, I think I'm ready to believe anything. Will you age? I mean, obviously not normally, if you've been around so long already…"

"The Doctor thinks I will, technically," Jack explained, running a hand through his hair, as if he expected to be able to feel if there were any grays, "My genes will likely mutate, given enough time." He grinned, "So far so good though." Fayden just tilted her head, her eyes losing their good humor, leaving only curiosity and a bit of confusion.

"And your name?"

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Jack was quiet for a long time, staring over her shoulder at the wall, "I was…at odds with the Time Agency," He said slowly, "I spent some time in London, in the 1940's. I couldn't exactly use my real name so, I took another," He swallowed, "That's the simple version."

"But," She shook her head, "You still could have come back. The Time Agency fell apart, Isop would have been safe for you, so why…why keep your name changed and stay here…?" She was starting to sound like a child again, so she shut her mouth. Jack's eyes returned to her face, and Fayden looked back at him, waiting.

"My vortex manipulator broke," He told her, "It broke while I was in the late 19th Century, here. I waited over a hundred years for The Doctor to show up, to fix it. But by the time he did, I was in charge of this place, had a home with these people…" He trailed off, a small smile on his lips, "Besides, The Doctor informed me that a human who can't die really shouldn't be hopping around in time, so he kept it broken." He took the leather strap from off of his wrist, and tossed it into her waiting hands. "But I am sorry," He said softly, "I'm sorry I've never caught up with you. I really did care about you, Fay…"

"It wasn't…wasn't just that," She stopped him, "I mean yes, I was young, and for the first time very infatuated," A small smile ghosted across her lips, and he grinned, "But you were more than that. You were like family, too. At that age, it felt like you were all I had left, when I found you," She admitted, "Then reality hit, and I realized that I was very quickly going to get in the way of your bachelor life. As I said, I handled it badly."

"Where did you go?" Jack asked, leaning forward across the desk, "I swear, I looked everywhere for you. I knew you couldn't stay with me, but I had every intention of making sure that you were safe and taken care of…"

"I hopped a freighter," Fayden grinned at his surprise, "Spent, oh…two years dressed as a boy, working on the docks of Mareshka. My freakish height helped. Then I caught another ride to Ananda, spent almost five years there as a bandit in the desert…"

"You're pulling my leg," Jack laughed, and Fayden shook her head.

"Nope!" She assured him, "I robbed nearly every baron who'd sent looters to Boe, got back as much of our stuff as I could," She sighed, "Then I fell in with a bloke who left me broke and homeless back on Mareshka. Where I met The Doctor and our Rose. Seven years later, and I'm the owner of a private shipping company."

"Wow," He smiled down at her, a rather rueful look in his very old eyes. They were silent for a little while, Fayden spinning from side to side in his chair a few times.

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"Do you think, if you could that is," She broke the silence softly, "That you'll ever want to go back? To the peninsula?" Jack regarded her carefully, before answering.

"Maybe," He nodded, "Up until a little while ago, I thought not," He murmured, "But now…maybe. Someday." Jack met her eyes steadily, "I do have a life here, though." Fayden nodded.

"Only I'm not asking for me." She informed him, her voice a little sharper, "I'm asking because your parents are buried on that planet, same as my mum. Seems to me you buried your whole identity along with them."

"That's not fair." Jack said evenly, still looking her in the eyes, his expression stony. "You don't know what I've lived through, Fay…"

"Not since you were 22," She added, not changing her tone, "But we did have the same childhood."

"Would you rather I went around wearing my planet on my sleeve?" He asked with an exasperated laugh, his voice raising a notch, "You're wearing more Boe merchandise than the mayor's wife used to go around in!"

"Well there's a hell of a long way between this and forgetting your real name!" She shot back at him, and Jack was silent. "I shouted your name, when you died," Fayden went on in that stern tone, fighting back the wetness in her eyes, "I could tell your team had never heard it before. Do they even know about your family?"

Jack had turned away now, crossed his arms and stared intently at the wall. And then, "Gray came here." Fayden sucked in a deep breath, her eyes widening. "John found him…" Jack's voice drifted for a moment, and she could tell that he was not seeing the wall at all, "He was one of the ones they left in their nests. He was a lot older when John found him, that means…" That meant he'd been the last to live. To survive torture, and eventually cannibalism. "He'd…he'd gone mad, Fay." Jack swallowed, and Fayden felt the bile rising in the back of her throat. "He was desperate and mad and he made John pull me back through time so that he could bury me alive as punishment…" Jack turned his eyes back to her, and she finally saw the full weight of his heartbreak, his guilt, and his age. "For letting go of his hand, that day."

Her childhood friend. For the first time, Fayden couldn't bear meeting his gaze, and had to look away. "What happened to him?" She asked in a whisper. Gray the tease, Gray the wild boy, Gray the one who made her miss school hunting sand dollars on the beach…

"Frozen." Jack told her flatly, and her eyes flew back to his anguished face, "His insanity is complete, and he's homicidal." He took a deep breath, "If I find a way to help him, I'll unfreeze him, but…"

"He was only nine," Fay whispered, reaching up and drying her eyes, "I'm sorry, I never…"

"No," Jack shook his head, clearing his throat, "That's not where I meant to go with this," He assured her, looking at her steadily again, "You're right, I have buried who I am, buried it so deep that I could hardly find it myself. I lost him, and dad. But you lost your father too, and that never stopped you," Jack let out a deep sigh, "After he showed up…I um, I lost two team members that day, and not too long after there was more chaos…" He shook his head again, frustrated with himself, "What I'm trying to say is," He actually smirked a little then, though his eyes stayed serious, honest, open, "I'm trying, Fay. Little by little. To let them all know. To not forget." He looked away, his tone suddenly rueful, "I was hoping to explain the whole name thing a bit more casually though, and at a less traumatic moment…"

"Well, you know me," Fayden shrugged, affecting the same casual tone after that moment of revelation, "Have to make things dramatic. At least when it comes to you." She smiled a little bit, "I'm glad you've stopped running. I rather like this version of you…Jack."

"Me too," He said softly, and there was another long silence, this one comfortable and companionable, both of them lost in their respective thoughts. Jack resting against the desk, and Fayden still sitting, pondering, and also in need of a lighter subject. She felt as if she'd abused him quite enough for one lifetime. Well, her sort of lifetime.

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"So," She murmured, glancing out through the glass wall behind him, "Who are you with now?" She asked nonchalantly, catching him off guard. She grinned. "At first I thought it was Gwen, but she's got a wedding ring. So that leaves Mickey or the pretty boy, and I'm fairly certain Mickey's all on one team."

"You were always way too clever for your own good," Jack pretended to be annoyed, walking around the desk to stand behind her, playing with her dreadlocks. Fayden leaned back in the chair, grinning, knowing he preferred this topic to the last. He sighed, "Ianto and I are…close." He admitted, "I care for him, very much…"

"You 'care' for a lot of people," Fayden reminded him, "And I don't just mean in the sack, I could tell today, even when I was busy fuming, that your regard for people has matured along with everything else." Her smile softened, "You love them all. But the way he looks at you…two thousand years, you still haven't made it special with anyone?"

"You know me," Jack replied quietly, turning one of the beads in her hair in his hand, "I never was exactly what you'd call exclusive. I might not hop beds like trampolines anymore, but I still don't know if I'd be able to make it work with just one person." He sighed, "We're close. But we've made a point of not promising anything to each other. We've got dangerous jobs. I can recover from anything…he can't."

"Such excuses," Fayden shut her eyes as he played with her hair, "You and The Doctor, what is it with letting a lifespan determine who you love?" Jack had to smirk at that, "What about that whole, 'tis better to have loved and lost bit?"

"I take it you're the expert on relationships, then?" Jack reached over and picked up her left hand, inspecting her empty finger, "Oops, guess not!"

"Hey!" Fayden yanked back her hand, pouting, "I've been a busy woman the past few years, thank you."

"I think the nine-hundred year old Time Lord downstairs could give me a far better lecture on all things love, loss, and sometimes being too busy for either, thank you," Jack teased further, before moving on, "So nobody in your world either?"

"I just recently was dumped by a married man, if that counts?" Fayden tried, and Jack coughed on a laugh. She sighed, "Fairly certain you hexed my love life, Jack."

"So sorry Fay," He apologized yet again, grinning. Another silence followed, as he played with her long locks, braiding and twisting as he pondered. "You know what struck me about you?" He asked softly, and Fayden waited, expectant. "You didn't need me." He admitted, smirking, "Well, wanted me maybe, after…well, after. But you never needed me. Or anyone. You swept in and then you swept out. I think that's why you stuck in my head for so long after you'd left."

She turned her head, "How long?"

He leaned down slowly, pressing a kiss to the side of her neck, "Oh, you still own a good chunk of real estate in here." He admitted, his breath in her ear, causing Fayden to shut her eyes.

"Too bad for you," She murmured, "That I am the sort who could make it work with just one person."

"I know," He drew back, standing straight, his hands still in her hair, "I knew you were when you were sixteen. You always were a better person than I."

"Nah, just old fashioned,"

There was a knock on the office door then, and they both looked up to see Gwen poking her head in, a soft smile on her face, "Not to intrude," She said quietly, "But your friend The Doctor seems to have figured out where that bit of tech came from, and says we'd best get to the asylum as soon as possible."

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It was a shimmer, a great trick of the eye lying in the forest. "Camouflaged," The Doctor answered the question no one had yet asked, too entranced by the sheer beauty of the thing. Fayden was quite sure they would have missed it entirely without him knowing exactly what to scan for, and what kind of tech it would have scattered as it fell to Earth. It was a ship, shimmering and glossy and taking on the exact hues of a Welsh forest in early summer. It was large, however the exact shape seemed hard to determine, the edges and angles of the ship somehow seemed to blur, human eyes not being able to focus on them.

"Hapans?" Jack suddenly asked The Doctor, who nodded.

"I believe so," He said quietly, almost sadly, "But this is the 21st Century. They wouldn't have developed the technology to deal with our atmosphere yet." Carefully, he ran the sonic screwdriver along one of the sides of the ship. If Fayden squinted, or took a step back, it looked as if he were touching empty air. But after only a few moments a portion of the forest-colored craft opened, letting out remnants of thick gasses as it did. "We're too late."

They peered into the ship, whose shape was much easier to determine from the inside, almost that of a medium-sized sedan. Two passengers were inside, both motionless, slumped back in their seats before the darkened console. A humanoid male and female, with fingers, arms, and legs that were all just barely too long and slender to look human, their cheekbones just barely too high. Their skin was so pale it almost had a bluish tint, their hair very long and dark, and they were both incredibly, impossibly beautiful.

"They're lovely…" Gwen breathed, her expression both awed and saddened. The Doctor nodded, matching her regret.

"But extremely delicate," He informed her, reaching out and shutting the female's eyes, "They come from a paradise planet. Low gravity, no cause for hard work, almost no sicknesses, and no wars. Their immune systems, muscle growth, bone density, practically nonexistent by human standards. If a Hapan came to Earth in this century and miraculously survived the air, they'd be treated as an invalid." He sighed, stepping back and closing the ship. "That's why they made such pretty, powerful gadgets when they started flying in space. Need them to survive the bullies of the universe." He turned to Jack. "They weren't tossed here by the rift, Jack."

"I know," The other man nodded, as The Doctor looked at him intently.

"They are from this time, they crash-landed here, and I am taking them home." He went on, and Jack nodded again.

"If I could, I'd do the same Doctor." The Doctor smiled.

"Good. For that, I'll let you hold on to the pretty gun." He sighed, "Well, after I use it to get a spaceship inside the TARDIS…"

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Fayden wasn't quite sure of the logistics…true, the TARDIS was massive on the inside, but the doors were decidedly small…but just as the sky was darkening over Cardiff, Jack and The Doctor had the Hapan craft neatly tucked away inside. The Doctor handed Jack the gun, after disabling the teleport feature and making the human who couldn't die swear to keep it under lock and key. The Time Lord said his goodbyes to his old friend then, as he had to seal the ship up and filter all the messy Earth air out of it, before the fragile bodies within could decay any further.

"It was good to see you again so soon, Doctor," Jack said warmly, as they stood in the console room, "You know, you could make a habit out of visiting your friends this often. Don't think it would kill you."

"Martha just tried the same tactic outside. Nine hundred years of being set in my gypsy ways, but I'll consider it." The Doctor smirked, and then turned to Fayden, rolling up his shirt sleeves as if he were getting ready for very manly work indeed, "Just ah…let me know when you're done saying goodbyes, all right?" He said a little too casually, "I'll be in the big room with the spaceship sitting in it. Down the corridor, fifth door on the right, down the stairs and around the corner from the hat rack. Lots to do, take all the time you need…"

"Thank you, Doctor," Fayden fought back a smile, looking down at her feet as her designated driver left the room, leaving her and Jack standing by the console. The TARDIS hummed to herself as usual, but otherwise they were silent for a moment.

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"Proper goodbyes," Jack finally broke the silence, his voice slow and warm. Fayden looked up again, smiling at him. "There seem to be more and more of those happening lately. He's getting better at them, I think."

"Better than running off without a word, I suppose," She nodded. He took a deep breath, and a step closer.

"You said that you'd gathered up pieces of home?" He asked, and Fayden nodded again, meeting his gaze steadily. He smiled, "Do you have many with you, and may I see them?" She grinned, taking his hand and leading him from the room, deeper into the TARDIS.

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"You've already got a bedroom?" Jack asked, incredulous, inspecting the relatively small, cozy bit of space Fayden led him to. It bore a great resemblance to her cabin on the Nephilim, if a little bit roomier. "The TARDIS didn't let me into a bedroom until I'd been here almost a week! I had to sleep on a lounge in the library!"

"Probably worried that if you'd had one, you'd try and seduce The Doctor into it," Fayden grinned, kneeling in front of her old trunk, which sat at the end of the bed. "Plus, I have belongings," She murmured, "I always carry this trunk with me." Jack stepped closer, looking down over her shoulder as she shuffled through the items inside. He smiled at the sight of the battered old cricket bat. His breath caught when he saw her old kilt, a familiar shimmer of gold fabric. "Ah," She breathed, pulling out a lump of driftwood and putting it into his palm.

Turning it over in his hands, Jack realized that it was carved into the shape of a small, simple fish…very badly. He let out a surprised laugh, even as tears started to fill his eyes. Right by the crooked tail, where he knew it would be, the artist's name was carved. 'Gray'. Fayden smiled, standing back up.

"Don't ask me how," She said softly, "It ended up in a grab bin in a market on Juno. I remember how proud he was when it was done…"

"Mum didn't have the heart to tell him it looked nothing like a goldfish," Jack swallowed, lifting the wood to his nose and taking a deep breath, as if he could still smell the salt and the ocean on it.

"Your mum thought everything her sons ever did was brilliant," Fayden corrected him gently, "You should have that."

"Thank you," He sighed, tucking the old thing into one of his pockets, his eyes fixed on her. "You're not staying on with The Doctor, then?" She shook her head. He took her hands, pulling her closer, "So I'm not going to see you again for another…three thousand years." Fayden shook her head again, looking him in the eyes.

"Maybe by then you'll have mastered the art of monogamy," She grinned, reaching up and playing with the hair at the nape of his neck. Jack let out a long-suffering sigh.

"Maybe," He conceded, leaning forward and kissing her forehead. Fayden bit her lip.

"You should try," She murmured, "Or at least make something significant. Ianto…"

"I'll outlive him, Fay."

"You'll outlive me too." She shot right back at him, still meeting his gaze. Two sets of pale blue, crashing against each other. Jack had nothing to say to that, for a long time.

"I'll try," He whispered, "I promise I'll try." Fayden smiled.

"You'll know where to find me in three thousand years, if you succeed." It sounded like a goodbye, but neither of them moved away. In fact, Jack found himself moving forward, taking her face in his hands, his lips brushing against hers. Fayden froze for only a moment, before letting out a sigh and kissing him back. A pleased hum escaped her throat at the familiar feeling, at those familiar lips. That pleasant feeling returned, that longing inside of her, that thing that no one else had stirred in her, not since him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, he grabbed her waist, and all coherency was lost.

It did not take them any time at all to pick up momentum. His hands still knew their way around her frame, though its curves had since filled out. She still knew how to make him gasp her name, though he'd had countless lovers between their last meeting and this. Nothing else needed saying that evening, until at last they were laying tangled in her bed, sated and breathing deeply. He could have made a comment about her knowing quite a few new tricks, but he only had to catch her eye and grin. She could have quipped right back that most of his new tricks were illegal on some planets, but her answering grin spoke for her.

Jack reached out, grabbing her slim hand over the covers and squeezing it tightly, bringing it to his lips. "I'll see you later, Fayden."

"Yeah," She whispered back, her grin softening, her eyes shining fondly, "See you later…Jack."

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The TARDIS doors had barely closed behind Captain Jack's retreating form, when The Doctor returned to the console room. Sitting cross-legged on the jump seat, Fayden had to marvel at his timing. Then again, he was a Time Lord, she wondered if that was one of the perks. She smiled at him in greeting, not quite able to keep the sad tint out of her eyes. "Hello." She said. He smiled, in much the same manner.

"Hullo." He responded, his sympathetic tone the only vocal acknowledgment of her current status, "So!" He went on brightly, turning toward the console and darting about, flipping switches. She heard the engines come to life, and knew they must be leaving Cardiff behind, "Ship's all nice and sealed up, the bodies quite well preserved. I was able to go through their systems, work out who they were, where they live, so on. Seems we'll be taking a quick trip to the Hapan home world…still in this century, but quite a different world than any you've been to I promise. Then I suppose you'll be wanting off…?" He suggested, looking at her with a lifted brow. Fayden sighed, reaching up and tugging on her locks thoughtfully, a playful smirk fighting its way onto her face.

"You know…" She started, "Frank and Dayna really can run things wonderfully without me…" The smile on his face nearly exploded, but Fayden went on quickly, "But not for long! Business and all. And I'll have to give them a call to let them know!" He nodded vigorously, making sure she understood perfectly that he understood perfectly. She grinned again, "But I…I really like what you've shown me, so far." The smile on her face was utterly genuine, and The Doctor had to smile right back.

"You're good company, Captain Amorisha," He told her, earnestly. And then, just as quickly, he sighed dramatically, "Though, do promise me that you won't go about smacking someone on every world we get off at…OI!" He complained loudly, as one of her boots went flying over his head.

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- 2 Months Later -

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She had traveled with him for five weeks, her timeline. She had seen amazing things, gone many amazing places, but after a near-death experience and a quick examination in the TARDIS infirmary, both she and The Doctor had quickly decided that it was time for her to return to The Isop Galaxy. The Business was thriving, her ship waiting for her return, and Fayden could not thank The Doctor enough for what he'd shown her, how he'd inspired her. They'd parted as dear friends, and with a stern promise that The Doctor would drop in again in the not too distant future.

He'd inspired her to make this decision. Both he and Jack.

She hopped down from the open airlock, her boots landing in familiar sand. It was all the same, the rolling surf, the far-off walls of mist, the empty, long-abandoned settlement housing. No one came here, for the same reason no one had come to Edgit until they'd been brainwashed to. Too much superstition surrounding the place, which was why the real estate had been so cheap. Fayden was in the know, and she knew that what had made this planet a place of death would never come back again. She shut her eyes and took a long, deep breath of the ocean air. She listened to the surf crashing against the sand, to the trees waving in the wind, to the sea birds calling to each other overhead. It was time she had a fixed place to rest her feet, she could think of no place better.

"This is home," Fayden whispered, opening her eyes and scanning the horizon again. As far as the old housing went, it certainly didn't look like much. But she was Captain Fayden Amorisha, owner of her own private shipping company, and she would make this place beautiful again. True, she might be the only inhabitant of the Boeshane Peninsula for a while, but that was fine. She and Robeck needed time to get to know each other again anyway.

She wandered over the dunes and up onto the grassy plain where she had played as a small girl, where there were markers set up for those who'd died. Most of them were made out of wood, neglected and wearing down. This would be the first place she poured money, no one should be forgotten. The name on her mother's marker had been scoured away by the sand-filled winds, but Fayden didn't need to read the name to know whose it was. She sat down on the grass by the spot, smiling brightly, reaching out to touch where the name had once been.

"I'm home," She murmured, "I'm home…"

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**Author's Notes:** There are at least two chapters left :) Ya'll make me smile.


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